Americans REALLY Love Sports Betting… Like A LOT!
While the gambling industry has the momentum of a freight train, a number of auxiliary businesses are also benefiting. One of those is legally betting on NFL games. That’s where we’re starting our weekly recap of the news.
Americans Bet $20 Billion on NFL Games This Season
The early estimates are out for how much Americans will be betting on the NFL this season. The numbers suggest that Americans will gamble over $20 billion dollars throughout the 2021 campaign. The news has resulted in a spike in the stock price from several companies, including Caesars Entertainment, Penn National Gaming, and DraftKings. Their stocks have increased over 20 percent this past month.
The NFL season opener between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Dallas Cowboys brought in more than 1.5 million wagers alone. DraftKings had to dish out roughly $54 million to their players that night due to an opening-night promotion.
Ironically, the league has long been against any type of sports betting but has now welcomed it with open arms. Although, the last couple of years the gambling industry has seriously taken off, which has caused the NFL to change their opinion.
Some predict that companies may be in a bit of trouble if bettors continue to win their wagers. DraftKings Sportsbook, for example, is only expected to pick up around 13 percent in total shared throughout the next year.
NBC Sports Seen Huge Ad Demand from Sportsbooks
We’re now through two weeks of the NFL season and from the business side, one thing is clear: advertisements slots on NBC Sports have been heavily sought after. The league already approved DraftKings, FanDuel Sportsbook, and Caesars Entertainment to be their official sportsbook partners and they’re wasting no time plastering every broadcast with ads. Other companies such as WynnBET, BetMGM, PointsBet and FOX Bet have all been given the same status and are allowed to run ads during NFL games as well.
These advertisements aren’t cheap, meaning these companies really want to capitalize on this recent gambling boom in 2021. The average cost of an advertisement during Sunday Night Football was $712,300 back in 2019. A number that is likely higher nowadays given how those 2019 numbers were seven percent higher than in 2018.
Look for a lot of new sportsbook operators to fight their way to a slot in the Super Bowl as well. DraftKings became one of the first to advertise in the big game, but others should be following suit in 2022. Companies are doing their best to get in front of as many eyes as possible to build brand awareness and attract customers.
Governor Charlie Baker Wants Legalized Sports Betting in Massachusetts
The New England Patriots have officially started their new season but fans in Massachusetts still can’t bet on their games. That has caused the governor of the state to speak out about the lack of sports betting. Governor Charlie Baker tweeted out that it has been too long since he started to push for legalized sports gambling in Massachusetts and aims to get it finalized as soon as possible.
Baker went on to say that he was happy to see the Patriots back in action but definitely wanted to use this as a motivating factor moving forward. He claims that they were able to file a bill to legalize sports betting all the way back in 2019 but that ended up falling through. They tried again earlier in 2021 but it doesn’t appear to be on track right now either. Baker finished up his tweet by saying that Massachusetts’s neighbors in the United States have been benefiting too much from their lack of a gambling market. This might be the push they needed to get them over the hump.