Sports betting has been one of the most profitable parts of the entertainment industry worldwide for decades, but in the USA it was banned for the most part. Recently, a Supreme Court decision made sports betting possible across the country and states have been legalizing it and implementing regulations to make it possible both live and online.
Today, sports betting is finally becoming a reality in numerous American states and companies like William Hill are pushing to penetrate the market and also get as much marketing space as possible. To make this happen, deals such as the one made between William Hill and the popular TV network CBS have been happening in increasing numbers.
We look at the details of the deal made between the betting company and the TV network and work out the reasons and motives behind it. How much will William Hill benefit from this new relationship and can we expect other bookies to make similar deals in the near future?
Let’s find out!
William Hill and CBS! What’s the Deal?
On February 10th, William Hill announced that they have made a deal with CBS Sports, one of America’s largest sports networks, to become their official sports book and wagering data provider. As a part of this deal, William Hill will supply all types of sports betting related content to the network, which will in turn provide exposure for the bookmaker to millions of sports fans across the USA.
This partnership is set to start in March, but will really only be fully live once the fantasy football season is in full swing. CBS sports is a network that caters heavily to sports and fantasy sports fans and the addition of William Hill as a partner will enable them to provide various content that was not available to them up to this point.
As the official partner of the network, William Hill will have the exclusive rights for advertising across all its digital properties. This means that other US based bookies will not get a chance to put their ads on CBS, which is bound to sit wrong with some of them.
This partnership is a great step for the originally British bookmaker who has been making a strong push into the US market since the day it opened up.
Other Bookies to Look for Partners
With the sports betting industry in the USA now quickly growing and bookmakers needing more exposure than ever, we can expect numerous operators to create similar deals with other sports TV networks and various other media in the country.
While internet advertising on sites with sports news and similar is great, to be at the very top of what is to become a highly competitive playing field, bookies will have to engage other media as well and become more versatile. We can expect many other sportsbooks such as 888sport, BetStars and others to approach networks and try to work out similar partnerships, with some such deals already in the making.
At this time, the sports betting industry in America seems to be going down a very good path, with millions of previously illegally made bets now being made with legal bookies across the states.
Over the next decade, it is likely that most of all sports betting in the USA will be made with legal bookies, so expect to see plenty of betting advertisements on your television stations in the coming months and years.