I wonder if the NFL is going to keep crying about how sports betting threatens the integrity of the game. Forget about all the league and team partnerships with daily fantasy sports sights; on Friday, the Baltimore Ravens announced it has entered into a partnership with the Horseshoe Casino Baltimore.
“Horseshoe Casino Baltimore has become a popular destination, particularly for Ravens fans before and after our home games,” said Baltimore Ravens Senior Vice President of Corporate Sales and Business Development Kevin Rochlitz. “We’re enthused about this partnership and believe it will further enrich the entertainment appeal surrounding M&T Bank Stadium. Additionally, we feel it will help contribute to the exciting development taking place throughout the area.”
Rochlitz expanded on his excitement when speaking with The Baltimore Sun:
It’s a great thing for us and a great thing for Horseshoe. The opportunity to merge our brands together allows our fans to do certain things inside Horseshoe Casino, and we’re going to be working on some consumer promotions that they’re going to announce to rewards members. It also allows a great opportunity for our fans to come in here to the casino and win certain prizes.
As part of the relationship, Horseshoe can use the Ravens’ team logos for promotions and plans to re-brand the three-level 14Forty bar as a Baltimore Ravens bar.
As The Baltimore Sun mentioned, though the partnership is with a professional sports team, this has nothing to do with sports betting, since sports betting has not yet been legalized in Maryland. Considering casino gambling is legal in the state, with multiple major casinos, one would think sports betting would eventually happen. The problem is, even if state lawmakers pass a measure to legalize the pastime, residents have a final say and the measure must be put on a ballot as a referendum. It is took late for that to happen this year, as the 2018 elections are only a couple weeks away. The next opportunity will be in two years.
NFL Finally Dropping the Facade
The Dallas Cowboys was the first NFL team to partner with a casino, doing so with WinStar World Casino in early September. The partnership will be similar to that of the Ravens. Both the casino and football team will cross-promote and use each other’s logos.
The NFL and other sports leagues have fought tooth-and-nail to keep sports betting illegal for decades, even though they know that sports betting provides them massive benefits in fan and non-fan interest. Earlier this year, though, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned PASPA, the law that made sports betting illegal, opening it up for each state to make its own decision on sports gambling regulation. A few states have legalized it so far and several others are discussing it.
In August, the NFL changed its rules, now allowing teams to enter into marketing deals with casinos, even ones that have sports books. One caveat, though, is while the teams can advertise for the casino, they cannot specifically run or post ads for sports betting. Television commercials also cannot run during games, only before and after.