SBJ Unpacks: Sportsbooks put team deals under microscope

As chief commercial officer of the since-merged U.S. operation of PointsBet, Eric Foote found himself in a sponsorship spending melee that set off a gold rush for teams in the early years of legal sports betting.

In Michigan, he cut deals for the sportsbook with the Red Wings, Tigers and Pistons. In Colorado, he tied to the Nuggets and Avalanche. In Illinois, he hooked up with the Bears. In Indiana, the Pacers. Hoping to narrow the vast name recognition edge held by most of his competitors, he put the PointsBet brand on sports bars in arenas in Denver, Detroit and Indianapolis.

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Competition was fierce; sportsbook marketing budgets, loose.

In New Jersey, where the NFL prohibited the Giants and Jets from accepting sportsbook advertising, the NHL’s Devils landed deals with FanDuel, William Hill, Caesars and lesser-known operator Unibet, which together paid nearly $5 million a year to share the category.

In Arizona, where sportsbooks go through the teams and native tribes for licenses, teams fared even better, striking deals that stretched for 10 years and exceeded $50 million.

Three years later, the seven leading U.S. sportsbooks have a combined 87 sponsorship deals with teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball in 16 legalized states. BetMGM has the most, at 23. FanDuel has 17, Caesars 16, DraftKings 11, Fanatics eight, ESPN Bet six and Bet365 six.

But for those teams that have gone through a cycle of renewals, revenue from the category has dropped precipitously. Seven operators that had a combined 16 team deals at the start of 2022 have since shut down American sportsbook operations. Those that remain aren’t spending as aggressively on renewals as they did in the early days, when they saw the sponsorships as the best way to get sports fans to try their apps.

Now a consultant on sports betting matters, Foote estimates revenue from the category has dropped 30%-50% for teams in states that have been open for three years or more.

“The gold rush is over for established legalized jurisdictions,” Foote said. “The starting line is so important for an operator. You’re building brand trust and credibility out of the gate. But you also are essentially renting the team’s customers … for a period of time to get direct access and communication to them, whether it’s through email marketing, through in-venue promotions, through broadcast integrations — whatever it is you have in the deal. And once you tap into that customer and bring him over into your database and they register and make a deposit, you own that customer. So do you actually need the partnership any more? It’s a good question.”

The answer often comes in the form of another question: At what cost?

“The teams are not realizing the same economic benefits that they did when their states opened,” said Sara Slane, a consultant who previously worked for the American Gaming Association and now advises leagues and teams. “The operators are going to evaluate every deal as things progress. I think there is tremendous benefit to partnering with a team and the money is well spent. But you better be able to show that. Because the pendulum has swung back to the operators now. They may have overpaid in some cases in the early days. They’re not going to now. They’re just not. They don’t need to.”

Incumbents typically will look to cut the cost of a sponsorship in half if they renew it, Foote said, walking away from some of the assets that were essential when a state opened, such as stadium and arena signs and concourse activations that they initially used to sign up new customers.

Recruiting customers at games turned out to be inefficient, Foote said, since few who joined were likely to bet much. Now, sportsbooks are more likely to focus on connections to fans in suites and courtside seats, who have more disposable income, and on integrations that allow them to promote odds and highlight featured bets during pregame shows and broadcasts.

“I just think people now know what’s working and what’s not,” Foote said. “So if the teams still want partners in the category, they’re going to have to get creative and open up their database more and they’re going to have to think about how to get them in the broadcast. It can still be powerful if it’s authentic integration.”

Though BetMGM has the most team deals of any sportsbook, it’s now concentrated in the states in which the operator also can benefit by promoting its casino properties and, in a few cases, its online casino.

In Michigan, where BetMGM has a Detroit casino and online casino play is legal, BetMGM has deals with all four Detroit teams. In New Jersey, where it has the Borgata in Atlantic City and also has online casino play, it has a deal with the Jets. In Pennsylvania, another online casino state, it sponsors six of the eight major pro teams.

BetMGM also has team deals in New York, Massachusetts and D.C., where it has retail casinos. It operates retail sportsbooks tied to deals with the Arizona Cardinals, Washington Nationals and Cincinnati Reds.

The only team deals that remain solely focused on the online sportsbook are all with NFL teams: The Broncos, Titans, Ravens and Bengals. NFL team deals help BetMGM counter the fact that it is the only one of the four leading books that is not an official NFL sponsor.

“When the states started to open, there was a mindset across all the properties of, let’s jump in and form a relationship with a sports team and lean into the assets,” said Casey Hurbis, who joined BetMGM as CMO last month after filling the same role at Rocket Mortgage. “You’ve seen a large evolution. As those partnerships come up for renewals, we’ve renewed a lot of them. But we’ve expanded them to make them more omnichannel.”

Like other sportsbooks, BetMGM monitors the impact of each sponsorship closely and adjusts tactics, and spending, accordingly. Last NFL season, geolocation service GeoComply reported that Paycor Stadium, home to the BetMGM-sponsored Bengals, had the most betting transactions of any stadium, averaging 67,000 per game. Another BetMGM-sponsored team, the Arizona Cardinals, were second at 64,000.

“If you look at how much betting is taking place around the stadium, it is significant,” Slane said. “If you’re MGM and you’re partners with the Jets on a game day, that traffic is happening at Met Life Stadium and there’s clearly an added benefit to being a partner with them.

“Is partnering with a team the panacea? Of course not. But is it one of the things a smart operator does? Yes. There is still huge intrinsic value with doing deals with teams, even long after a state opens up.” 

S.F. Bay Area healthcare system El Camino Health has signed on as the Earthquakes’ new front-of-kit sponsor, beginning with the 2025 MLS season. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but primary jersey sponsorships in MLS are typically valued in the mid-seven-figures annually. MLS requires all kit sponsors to commit for at least three seasons.

El Camino Health, which operates two not-for-profit acute care hospitals and 21 care locations, replaces technology company Intermedia as the team’s front-of-kit sponsor and Kaiser Permanente as the team’s official healthcare partner. Intermedia will remain a club sponsor going forward.

In addition to the first team, all youth players in the Quakes Academy will wear the El Camino brand on the front of their jerseys. El Camino will also become the title sponsor of the club’s annual California Clásico match against the Galaxy at Stanford Stadium. Last season’s edition drew a crowd of 40,844.

On the community front, the partnership with El Camino will double the reach of the Earthquakes’ school health and wellness program, Get EQ Fit, which will now benefit more than 10,000 school students at 40 South Bay elementary schools. The Earthquakes and El Camino will also introduce an annual Community Health Fair at PayPal Park.

El Camino negotiated the deal directly with Earthquakes Chief Strategy Officer Ian Anderson and VP/Sponsorships Kristina Wavomba.

The Cubs are bringing a backyard experience to Wrigley Field.

On Wednesday, the team unveiled “The Yard,” a new outdoor space complete with five semi-private rental spaces located in the Budweiser Bleachers just above the batter’s eye in the center field.

“Fans often tell us that Wrigley Field is their summer home,” Cubs SVP/Ticketing Cale Vennum said. “And that was our inspiration, to create a space that feels like you’re in your own backyard but doing it right in the middle of the Budweiser Bleachers.”

The space features high-top seating and fully stocked coolers, providing an elevated and inclusive single-game experience for groups of four-to-eight that was previously lacking at the iconic venue. Rental spaces are available for groups starting at four people, with a maximum capacity of 50 total guests. The atmosphere will be social and relaxed, Vennum said.

Prices for “The Yard” start at $175 per ticket, and will vary by game. The experience includes unlimited beer, seltzer, wine and non-alcoholic drinks from a private cooler. Each guest will also pick a ballpark meal from options including the Small Cheval burger, Vienna Beef hot dog or vegetarian option. The space is accessible up to 90 minutes before first pitch through the end of the game.

The idea for the space originated toward the end of the 2024 season. Construction is ongoing, but “The Yard” will be ready for the Cubs’ U.S. home opener on April 4 (they play the Dodgers in Japan on March 18 and 19). Populous helped with the design and architecture. The team was still working through things on the cost side, Vennum said.

“Wrigley Field is a really tight footprint, and we have to be really, really thoughtful any time we want to create something new, because space is at a premium here,” Vennum said.

Fox Sports is celebrating its most lucrative Super Bowl yet, with a double-digit number of spots selling for north of $8M, according to a source familiar with the matter.

Fox said in November it had sold out of inventory for Super Bowl LIX. It had established an upfront rate early in the sales process but with high demand increased the prices nearly immediately. The average price for a 30-second spot sold for the Super Bowl LIX is not yet known, but they went for around $7M last year on CBS.

As is the case every year, some advertisers who bought early needed to come out of the game. Those units were resold at a much higher price, which helped Fox escalate its pricing much more quicky. Close to 10 advertisers dropped out, slightly higher than a typical year.

Strong categories this year include beverages, telco, tech, travel, financial, auto, QSR and salty snacks, according to Fox Sports EVP/Ad Sales Mark Evans. Not many new categories are entering, and streaming and studios are down. “The movie business has changed so much coming out of COVID, how many bets do you make on a new title being released at such, quite frankly, a high price that the Super Bowl commands,” said Evans.

Fox had pre-negotiated deals with advertisers who weren’t yet in the game, should inventory become available.

“It's a very beneficial place to be in, if you're in our position, because these units obviously are significant expenditures. Once you buy it, you own it. There are no take-backs,” said Evans.

Around 80-85% of inventory sold during the traditional upfront window through June. “What was unique to this Super Bowl, or this marketplace, was we had a lot more people that weren't in the game at all, all of a sudden be like, no, no, I have to get in the game,” added Evans.

In 2023, the last time Fox had the Super Bowl, the company pulled in nearly $600M in Super Bowl advertising revenue with spots averaging $6.5M per unit. Paramount surpassed that total revenue number last year. Fox has not yet announced its overall ad revenue for this year’s game. 

MLS and Apple are making the MLS Season Pass streaming service available outside the Apple TV ecosystem for the first time, providing Comcast Xfinity and DirecTV customers the ability to subscribe and watch directly through their pay-TV provider during the 2025 season. The league is also rekindling its 2023 partnership with T-Mobile, which grants the wireless carrier’s customers free access to Season Pass, and launching a featured standalone telecast called “Sunday Night Soccer.” 

Apple’s partnership with Comcast will allow Xfinity customers to sign up for Season Pass directly through the cable carrier’s interface, and live matches will be included within the channel guide on X1 and the Xfinity Stream app, the X1 Sports app and the Apple TV app. Xfinity will also offer all customers a free preview of MLS Season Pass from Feb. 22 to March 2, and Comcast subscribers will also have free access to “MLS 360,” the league’s whip-around show, throughout the season without a Season Pass subscription. 

DirecTV customers will also be able to subscribe to Season Pass through the satellite provider’s platform and have a similar viewing experience to subscribers of other leagues’ out-of-market packages. There will also be a free preview period for DirecTV customers from Feb. 22 to March 1. DirecTV will remain the exclusive provider of Season Pass to commercial establishments, such as bars and restaurants. 

SBJ reported in December that the league was planning to introduce new entry points for Season Pass ahead of the 2025 season. The moves are aimed at attracting more eyeballs, particularly those of casual fans, to MLS’ product. Over the past two seasons, the only MLS matches available outside the Apple TV ecosystem in the U.S. were a handful of linear simulcasts on Fox and FS1. Select Leagues Cup matches have also been available on Fox and Univision networks. MLS also has a linear partnership with TSN in Canada for select matches. 

MLS Commissioner Don Garber said during his season-ending State of the League press conference in December that Season Pass attracts “over a million viewers” across its entire slate of matches on Saturday nights during the regular season. While he said the league is proud of that figure, he also said the league needs to do more to drive viewership. 

“This is new, and we've got to work with Apple, we've got to work with our clubs, and we've got to work with our partners to get more and more exposure to what we think is a great product,” Garber said. 

SUNDAY NIGHT’S ALRIGHT: The introduction of “Sunday Night Soccer” also represents a new strategy for the league, which since partnering with Apple has sought to standardize start times across the league on Saturday and Wednesday nights. The new primetime games will air throughout the regular season and spotlight the league’s most compelling matchups. The telecasts will include dedicated pre- and postgame shows, and all Sunday Night Soccer matches will be available for free to Apple TV+ subscribers (including those without a Season Pass subscription). Jake Zivin, Taylor Twellman and Andrew Wiebe will present the English-language feed, with Sammy Sadovnik and Diego Valeri on the call in Spanish. 

The debut of “Sunday Night Soccer” is scheduled for Feb. 23 at 7pm ET, featuring the defending champion Galaxy taking on expansion debutants San Diego FC. “MLS Wrap Up” and “MLS El Resumen,” which previously streamed at the conclusion of Saturday night’s slate of matches, will now move to Sunday evenings. 

MLS planting its flag on Sunday nights will put it in competition with the NFL and MLB’s premier national telecasts, NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” and ESPN's “Sunday Night Baseball,” during portions of its season. 

One thing MLS and Apple aren’t changing for 2025 is the price point of the Season Pass service. For the third straight season, the service will cost $14.99 per month during the season or $99 for the full season. Apple TV+ subscribers will continue to receive a discounted rate of $12.99 per month or $79 per season.

The CFP has quickly evolved into a sub-beat of sorts in the college sports world.

Governance, format, revenue sharing and more have consumed increasingly more column inches over the last few years as the Power Four, Notre Dame AD Pete Bevacqua and the rest of the FBS commissioners try to figure out what this might look like moving forward.

Last week in Atlanta brought plenty of discussion about the future. I have a few thoughts:

The CFP format may change, but not for the 2025 season

There’s been plenty of calls to adjust the format of the CFP -- yes, even with only one year of bullet points to consider -- but I have my doubts anything massive is going to change between now and next year’s edition.

CFP Executive Director Rich Clark said as much during a pregame gaggle with reporters, noting that any mass changes to the format likely needed a roughly year-long runway. That shouldn’t come as a surprise given the logistics involved in adding teams, sorting through needs from sponsors, TV partners, etc.

Sources also told my colleagues Mollie Cahillane and Austin Karp that there was no commitment to any significant changes for Year 2 of the expanded playoff following a presentation from ESPN representatives to the CFP Management Committee before the title game.

There will be conversations in coming months (more on that in a second), particularly around automatic qualifiers, whether the field expands beyond 12 teams, etc. That said, don’t expect any drastic changes before next year.

How much power can the Big Ten and SEC wield?

It’s no secret the Big Ten and SEC pull the strings in college football these days. Money, after all, creates its own form of decision-making hierarchy.

Now what those leagues want as discussions ramp up this month between Commissioners Greg Sankey, Tony Petitti and the rest of those involved in CFP governance becomes a fascinating storyline to monitor (My boss, Abe Madkour, also noted in his Forum this week  the significant impact Sankey seems to have among decision makers during his time in Atlanta last week).

Petitti has driven the bus on the automatic qualifier conversation for over a year. Sankey rode shotgun on that idea, but both backed off to varying degrees as the 12-team format got underway. Don’t be surprised if that becomes a talking point again when the leagues hold another set of joint meetings in New Orleans in three weeks, or when the CFP boards get together in Dallas at the end of February.

It’s also not quite clear how governance is going to work over the coming months. A new weighted voting system is set to be put into place under the terms of the CFP’s new deal with ESPN that would tilt in favor of the Big Ten and SEC (as of now, format changes need unanimity), but whether they would need additional votes from the ACC, Big 12 or anyone else hasn’t been made entirely clear.

The skinny is this: The Big Ten and SEC control the cards (the former increasingly so after back-to-back national titles). What that means for the CFP’s future will be litigated over the next 12 months.

What worked well in the 12-team format?

Discussions about changes aside, I’d go out on a limb and say the 12-team format was great for college football in Year 1.

The on-campus games were a smashing success, and the buzz in South Bend, Ind., during my time at the Notre Dame-IU game gave a nice glimpse into the fervor these kinds of contests can drum up when hosted in college towns.

Also, the engagement from as many as 15-20 fan bases down the stretch of the season with playoff berths still on the line were anecdotally a nice change from the four-team format when a loss may well have sunk certain squads -- Notre Dame and Ohio State, for example, likely wouldn’t have made the field in the old format.

Crowning a national champion in college football is always going to be a bit of a chore given the vastness of the sport, varying strengths of leagues, schedules, etc. Still, Ohio State beat four of the top five teams in the final CFP rankings this season en route to a championship. That, to me, created a deserving champion and a hell of a product.

• Caitlin Clark formally declined an invitation to be part of a male vs. female 3-point contest at next month’s NBA All-Star Game, reports SBJ's Tom Friend, preferring to make her 3-point shooting debut at the WNBA All-Star Game at her home arena in July.

• Smith Entertainment Group narrowed its search for Utah Hockey Club's permanent brand identity to three choices, including a new addition to the mix, writes SBJ's Alex Silverman: Utah Hockey Club, Utah Mammoth or Utah Wasatch.

• Jannik Sinner’s straight sets win over Alexander Zverev in the Australian Open men’s final in the wee hours of Sunday morning (3:30am-6:31am ET) averaged 465,000 viewers, down 12% from Sinner’s five-set win over Daniil Medvedev last year, which was the first Aussie Open final since 2005 without Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal, notes SBJ's Austin Karp.

• The UFL leased more than 111,000 square feet of office space in Arlington, Texas, for its football operations HQ, reports SBJ's Ben Fischer.

• Experimentation will be the key to success and growth for ATP Dallas Open leaders in the years to come as they look to the start of the tournament Feb. 1 at its newest home, The Star in Frisco, Texas, writes SBJ's Irving Mejia-Hilario.

• The U.S. National Flag Football team will have the silver screen experience, as USA Football is working with Duality Sports & Entertainment to create “Champions Rising: USA Football’s National Team,” notes SBJ's Mollie Cahillane.

• Campbell’s Company cracker brand Lance is getting into NASCAR with Joe Gibbs Racing as part of Campbell’s broader relationship with Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, reports SBJ's Adam Stern.

• The PTPA is launching the Athlete Counsel & Equity Program, which will at its outset focus on connecting players with pro-bono legal support in anti-doping and anti-corruption cases, writes SBJ's Rob Schaefer.