Sports betting to change US landscape
According to sports teams’ owner Ted Leonsis, the segment is set to redefine how stadiums and sports centres are used by the public.
US.- Sports betting is bound to be legalised all across the US in the long-term as several states have already taken the bull by the horns and have either already legislated or plan to do so in order to regulate the segment. The betting industry is certainly on the verge of a major transformation in the US, but Washington Wizards (NBA) and Capitals (NHL) owner Ted Leonsis says the sports landscape is also set to be redefined.
“I think you will see buildings like Capital One Arena (where both of his teams play) being reimagined,” Leonsis told USA Today. “So we want people to come into our buildings to have lunch, to have dinner when there’s not a game in the building, watch other games on television, do research, bet, wager — and look at our buildings as really alive, dynamic sports cathedrals.”
“I don’t see ever the teams having a piece of the money, or frankly even the leagues being in the sports betting business and getting a piece of what’s called the handle,” Leonsis asserted on the “integrity fee” controversy. “But who you partner with, be it a DraftKings or a casino or international player or some new company or it’s not wild to think that a really big financial services or big data partner could enter the business to be a partner with us,” he projected.
As both the NHL and the NBA have recently signed collaboration agreements with MGM to provide data through Sportradar, vice president of legal and regulatory affairs for Sportradar U.S. Jake Williams said: “We’re seeing derivative betting take place for the last four or five years much more expansively (in international markets). So I think that will permeate throughout the U.S. and we’ll have a lot of in-play wagering, a lot of side bets and prop bets. Or even things like you can bet on what type of fantasy score a certain player will have.”
“We want to make sure we put in place the best regulated framework possible,” Williams says, “protecting the players, the athletes, the teams and everyone else within the ecosystem. Because the reality is no one wants match-fixing. Integrity is critically important for all stakeholders in the sports betting ecosystem,” including consumers.
