Two More American Football Leagues Considering Sports Betting

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For a very long time, most of the professional sports leagues in the United States, including the National Football League (NFL), were staunch opposers of the legalization of sports betting in the country. these leagues put up quite a fight to ensure that the federal ban was preserved but their efforts turned out to be mighty fruitless when in May last year the United States Supreme Court abolished PASPA thus paving way for the legalization of sports betting in various states across the country. This was seemingly inevitable as evidenced by the change of heart that the pro sports league had as the Supreme Court ruling neared. In fact, while most of the sports leagues only gave up on their anti-sports betting campaigns when the court ruling arrived, some had already started negotiating ways of capitalizing on the emerging legal and regulated industry long before that.

Leagues such as the Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) chose to push for the so-called integrity fees which essentially meant that they wanted a slice of every bet on their games. The proceeds would then be used to fund efforts to ensure integrity in their events. Unfortunately, very few states have been willing to even consider a provision of that kind and, as it stands, not one of the states where sports betting has been legalized has included the integrity fees in their sports betting bills and legislation.

Where the Football Leagues Stand

While the NFL has generally taken a rather muted stance when it comes to sports betting, it has allowed its teams to be sponsored by gambling operators. However, the teams are not allowed to promote any specific sports betting operators – the sponsors are, on the other hand, permitted to use team logos in their advertising. Some of the NBA teams that have since gotten on board with casino sponsors include the Baltimore Ravens and the Dallas Cowboys. As for the NFL itself, it recently partnered with Caesars Entertainment as its official gaming sponsor.

If you are an avid follower of American football then you probably already know that the NFL is not the only football league and just like the NFL, the other leagues have also begun to embrace sports betting.
NFL is not the only football league and just like the NFL, the other leagues have also begun to embrace sports betting. As of this writing, the Alliance of American Football (AAF), a new spring league, and the Arena Football League are reportedly in talks with a number of sportsbooks. The AFL, for instance, is banking on Atlantic City where there has been a sports betting boom since the Supreme Court legalized sports betting. Hopefully, forming partnerships within the context of sports wagering will effectively help to increase the levels of fan engagement as well as boosting the popularity of the league.

SSandra loves new tech. That’s why when iGaming was first floated as an idea, she decided to gobble up every bit of information about the industry. Years of reading and committing knowledge to paper have transformed Sandra in a true tech wonk. She is able to navigate both the legal and business context of the industry, turning data and serious information into pleasant and easy to read articles.