Big money in sports betting for U.S. sports leagues

The US sports leagues have put up a strong resistance to the striking down earlier this year of the federal PASPA by the US Supreme Court, but they stand to benefit significantly from the newly liberalised market, according to a new Nielsen Sports study commissioned by the American Gaming Association (AGA).

The study found that the National Football League’s (NFL) annual revenue may increase by $2.3 billion a year due to widely available, legal, regulated sports betting, following an analysis of the revenue  streams that legal sports betting could generate for the NFL: revenue as a result of spending from betting operators on advertising, data and sponsorship, and revenue generated as a result of increased consumption of the league’s media and purchasing of products.

According to Nielsen Sports, greater fan engagement and viewership could boost the NFL’s total annual revenue from media rights, sponsorships, merchandise and ticket sales by 13.4 percent, producing $1.75 billion in new revenue from increased consumption of the league’s products.

Legal sports betting could help the NFL generate an additional $573 million in revenue as a result of spending by betting operators and data providers.

The study projects that gaming operators may spend $451 million on advertising, which will directly increase the league’s rights fees by the same amount. An additional $92 million in sponsorship revenue and $30 million in data is also projected for the league and its teams.

“Legal, regulated sports betting will create huge new revenue opportunities for sports leagues – and the NFL could be the biggest winner of all,” said Sara Slane, senior vice president of public affairs for the American Gaming Association.

“Once legal sports betting expands across the country, the NFL could take in more than $2 billion a year, reinforcing how much sports leagues stand to gain from increased viewership and private partnerships with sports betting operators.”

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