While sports betting is the obvious link between sports and gambling, casinos are an ever increasing presence around the world of sports.
Big ticket sponsorship deals with players and teams, sporting events held in casinos and sports themed casino games are increasingly common. Why, and how, is this happening, and what does it mean for the future of global sports?
Being a sportsbook is not, despite what some might think, a license to print money. Especially for smaller operators, the margins can be razor tight.
One or two long-shot upsets in big ticket matches, or in some cases one single large bet from a high roller, can turn an entire business from profit to loss in a month.
So, operators turn to online casinos - which are more consistently profitable - to plug the gap. One way to do that is through cross selling to their existing sports betting fans.
Gambling Operators Sponsor Sports Teams and Players
Top-tier sports players are paid well for their time. Stadiums are expensive. Flying around the world to play matches is expensive.
The biggest teams in any sport are large operations that pay thousands of people’s wages. So any income stream can help them continue to improve the fan experience, and gambling is now a significant part of that equation.
When it comes to betting online, any operator worth your time will have almost every sport under the sun available to bet on. As we have seen, a great betting site will have a casino too. As well as bonuses, promotions and rewards that keep you in the game for longer.
Interestingly, as well as straight up advertising and other sponsorships, some large Asian online casinos have been known to advertise in English Premier League soccer.
Despite not having a licence to operate in the UK or any British customers. They simply want the huge amount of international eyeballs on these matches.
Teams with gambling sponsors on their shirts in the hugely popular EPL for the 24/25 season included:
- West Ham
- Everton
- Crystal Palace
- Aston Villa
- Brentford
- Bournemouth
- Fulham
Gambling operators can also make careers for players or athletes - sometimes even mediocre ones - after their playing days are up. Gambling companies sponsor podcasts, fan meetups and other events as well as commercial activities involving ex-players.
Sports Leagues Have Their Own Slots Now
All this commercial activity (read, money) hasn’t gone unnoticed by big sports leagues. Since the spread of legal sports betting in the US, the big players have slowly come to embrace sports betting. And with that comes online casinos.
The NFL now has an official slot game - more than one in fact. As does the NHL. The NFL Slot series is made by Aristocrat, and has proved largely popular across casino floors in the US.
The game’s features include:
- A selection of different skins that change the colours and logos depending on what team the player picks
- A progressive jackpot system going into the millions of dollars
- Stadium chants and announcer voice lines from real NFL matches
- Actual NFL clips from the hall of fame during bonus rounds
It isn’t currently available for online casinos, but the market is likely to expand. NFL and casino gambling fans must feel vindicated after all these years of putting up with knock off sports league themed slots, and now they have the official titles and all that investment on their side.
Sports Bettors Go for Direct Ownership and Investment
Speaking of direct investment, many gambling affiliated business figures have directly purchased big sports teams over the years.
Even some large successful sports bettors - like Brighton & Hove Albion soccer team owner Tony Bloom or basketball bettor Haralabos Voulgaris at Spain’s CD Castelon - have gone on to buy whole sports teams.
Bloom’s analytical data-led sports betting strategies made him a fortune, and have also since worked well for his sports teams too.
One not so successful purchase from recent years has been Las Vegas Sands owner Miriam Adelson’s purchase of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team.
The controversial buy hit headlines after the Adelson’s reportedly had a hand in the highly debatable trade of star-man Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Gambling Operators Host Sports at Casinos and in Las Vegas
Other gambling firms simply prefer to bring sports to their backyard.
MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas has hosted dozens of top boxing matches over the years, including some of the most famous heavyweight bouts of all time, which would have been good promotion for its owner and casino operator MGM Resorts International.
Mixed Martial Arts events from the UFC have also been hosted in various Las Vegas casinos and stadiums in recent years.
The NFL’s decision to greenlight the move of the Raiders to Las Vegas in 2019, where they now play in the Allegiant Stadium, was also a big move for legitimizing closer ties between gambling and sports.
That was capped off by the Super Bowl being held there in 2024, showing how far casino gambling and sports have grown together.
