As the sports betting market has sparked an influx of technology and equipment, venues that host betting kiosks and sportsbooks are evaluating the opportunities and challenges that come with it, including professional leagues.
Casey Clark of the American Gaming Association welcomes Scott Warfield, PGA Tour, Lee Villalobos, MLB and Jonathan Nabavi, NFL to the Global Gaming Expo. Photo: Networld Media Group.
Sports betting kiosks continue to proliferate across the country as more states legalize sports betting.
And while the market has unleashed an influx of technology and equipment, sites that host sports betting kiosks and sportsbooks are busy evaluating the opportunities and challenges presented by this expanding market, including sports leagues. professionals.
The branding opportunity that sports betting has fostered was on full display at last week’s conference. World Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, where Aristocrat Gaming showcased the NFL Super Bowl Jackpots slots that the company introduced to casinos at the start of the 2023 National Football League season. This is the first time the public will be able to play NFL-themed slots.
The expo also hosted representatives from three professional leagues – the NFL, Major League Baseball and the PGA Tour – who discussed their perceptions of sports betting. Casey Clark, senior vice president of the American Gaming Association, which sponsored the show at the Venetian Expo, moderated the discussion.
Professional teams recognize the opportunity
“Teams have really gotten more involved,” said Leonardo Villalobos, sports betting and compliance investigation attorney for Major League Baseball. “I think it follows a trend of making stadiums more of the center of an entertainment district. We’ve seen that with the new stadium projects that are underway.”
Retail sports betting helps make the stadium a destination outside of game days, Villalobos said. Revenue is not the primary goal of retail stadium sports betting, but rather convenience.
And while teams want to have sportsbooks and sports betting kiosks, they aren’t looking to exploit them, the panelists agreed. Villalobos said the league has trademarks, data and video tools to provide to sports betting operators.
DraftKings Inc., a sports betting operator, and PGA Tour recently announced the grand opening of the DraftKings Sportsbook at TPC Scottsdale, scheduled to open Friday.
Panelist Scott Warfield, PGA Tour vice president of gaming, said Scottsdale sports betting will add to the golf course’s appeal, although he doesn’t think retail sports betting will be commonplace at the golf courses nationwide.
Responsible gaming takes center stage
Much of the conversation focused on the importance of promoting responsible gaming as gaming opportunities expand.
“We’re not doing it because we have to … it’s the right thing to do,” Warfield said, adding that the PGA Tour has had extensive discussions on the subject internally. His organization has also discussed the topic with leagues, sports betting operators and other stakeholders.
State governments are also considering laws to promote responsible gaming, Villalobos said, making it important for leagues to be involved in government affairs.
In addition to discussing responsible gaming from a fan perspective, Villalobos said the league is also looking at it from a player perspective. He recently met with college athletes in an effort to learn about why athletes might be more susceptible to gambling and what impact it might have on them. “This is something we are looking at more closely,” Villalobos said. The league is exploring what resources it can offer to athletes who may need them.
“How can we find a way to convey the right kind of message? » asked panelist Jonathan Nabavi, vice president of public policy and government affairs at the National Football League, adding that it’s a good idea to involve athletes in spreading messages about responsible gaming. “I would love to see that in the focus on responsible gaming.”
Responsible betting advertising
The discussion on responsible gaming has also raised the issue of responsible advertising for sports betting. The panelists agreed that some restrictions should be placed on gaming advertising.
To that end, Nabavi said leagues and some operators have formed a coalition for responsible sports betting advertising.
“I am really pleased that a number of leagues and our broadcast partners have come together to collectively brainstorm and engage in a coalition effort for responsible sports betting advertising,” he said. declared.
To that end, Villalobos said the leagues have capped sports betting ads.
“Perhaps we move forward with providing additional incentives to encourage operators to use their allocation… for RG (responsible gaming) focused spots,” he said.
One way to limit in-game betting is to limit playing time, he said, because there is less time to set prices, open the market, close it and maintain bets.
The average length of an MLB game this year was two hours and 40 minutes, compared to more than three hours the year before, he said.
Progress cited
Since one of the goals of legalizing sports betting was to reduce illegal betting, the panelists agreed that progress has been made since the 2018 Supreme Court decision allowing all 50 states to allow sports betting.
The AGA’s Clark said whether the court was completely right is a legal question, but he prefers the current situation to the pre-2018 situation.
Sports betting, provided largely but not exclusively by sports betting kiosks, reached $5.46 billion last July, surpassing the same period a year earlier by 63.1 percent, according to the association.
Elliot Maras is the editor-in-chief of Kiosk Marketplace and Vending Times. He has three decades of work in unsupervised retail and commercial food service.
