Inside Gaming: Yahoo! Sports, BetMGM Create Partnership
Table Of Contents
Multi-Year Agreement Connects Yahoo! Sports, BetMGM
On Tuesday GVC Holdings and MGM Resorts International announced an exclusive multi-year partnership via which the companies will together power sports betting for Yahoo! Sports.
According to a press release, the partnership represents a "joint venture... to power sports betting for Yahoo Sports and create collaborative content experiences and live events."
Plans are for the integration to launch in the Yahoo Sports app by the end of November, with all wagers to be handled on the BetMGM platform. Available sports will include the NBA, NHL, pro and college football, other college sports, baseball, soccer, golf, and tennis.
Guru Gowrappan, CEO of Verizon Media, commented that the partnership will be important for enhancing spectators' experience and engagement by "providing new ways for sports fans to go beyond engaging with content and interact through commerce."
Jim Murren, CEO of MGM Resorts International, was similarly optimistic about how "integrating Yahoo’s leading fantasy sports operations and content with BetMGM’s world-class sports betting and interactive platform uniquely positions us to drive market share and large-scale adoption among sports fans."
Practically speaking, the deal means that users of the Yahoo! Sports app and website where BetMGM is licensed will start seeing odds listed along with scheduled games, scores, and statistics, with built-in opportunities to click through and place wagers.
Both NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman also weighed in as part of the announcement to speak favorably of the partnership.
"As sports betting continues to transform the industry, this partnership brings together the power of two trusted partners of the NBA," said Silver. "By working together, MGM Resorts and Yahoo Sports will offer fans unprecedented ways to engage with our games."
"The expanding sports betting landscape presents exciting opportunities to increase fan engagement and leverage emerging technologies," added Bettman.
Online Poker Report adds further particulars regarding the deal and what might come next for Yahoo Sports, including the potential roll-out of a free-to-play game like the FOX Bet Super 6 for those in excluded states.
Hard Rock Opens New Property Near Sacramento
Last week we shared news of the opening of the new "Guitar Hotel" at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida, the highlight of the newly completed $1.5 billion expansion project on the property.
This week there is more Hard Rock-related news with the official opening of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Sacramento at Fire Mountain on Wednesday.
Along with an eight-story, 170-room hotel, six restaurants, and other amenities, the property's 150,000-square-foot casino includes 57 gaming tables and over 1,500 slots. Operated by the Estom Yumeka Maidu Tribe of Enterprise Racheria, it is the first "Las-Vegas style" casino resort in the state.
Located about 25 miles north of Sacramento, Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Sacramento at Fire Mountain is one of several casinos in the area, but hopes to stand out thanks to its recognizable name with an international reputation.
"People know the brand and we really think that will allow us to grow the market," said Mark Birtha, president of Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Sacramento, as reported by KTXL in Sacramento.
"The focus was not just having gaming in a box, it was to have all the amenities," he added. "So, even if you don’t come here and even spend a dollar in a slot machine, you can come have a great resort experience."
Among the festivities surrounding the grand opening will be a performance by Def Leppard at the nearby Toyota Amphitheatre on Saturday night.
Google to Lift Advertising Ban for U.S. Online Casinos
Finally, there was yet another sign of the expansion of online gambling recently when hugely influential multinational technology giant Google announced it plans to lift its ban on advertising online casinos in the U.S.
EGR North America reported the news a couple of weeks ago, noting that the lifting of the ban is slated to go into effect some time during the first quarter of 2020.
Earlier this year Google began experimenting with allowing ads related to online sports betting first in New Jersey only, then also in Nevada and West Virginia. That has now expanded to include other states with online sports betting, including Indiana, Iowa, Montana, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island.
Companies currently buying sports betting ads on Google are required both to provide a copy of their state-issued license as well as to include warnings in their ads about the dangers of problem gambling.
According to Casino.org, Google currently allows gambling-related advertising in approximately 30 countries.
