Sale of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks reflects the growing connection between sport and the betting market – 12/06/2023 – Sports

For years, professional sports organizations, including the National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball, have prohibited alcohol companies from purchasing advertising in stadium and arena locations that could be seen on television, in deference to efforts to combat impaired driving. alcohol.

But in 2009, during the worst recession since the Great Depression, those same leagues found themselves struggling for money as their biggest sponsors — automakers, banks and others — cut back on marketing. Suddenly, they began signing multimillion-dollar contracts with companies that manufactured rum, tequila, vodka and other alcoholic beverages, and the advertising was displayed for all to see.

It was a sign of how justifications can change overnight, especially when money is involved. The sports world was reminded of this last week when Miriam Adelson and her trust sold US$2 billion (R$9.8 billion) worth of shares in Sands Corp., a casino operator, to buy a professional sports team, which it ended up being the Dallas Mavericks. (The purchase still needs to be approved by the league’s board of governors before it becomes official.)

“The Adelson and Dumont families are honored to have the opportunity to be guardians of this great franchise,” they said in a statement.

For decades, most major professional leagues kept the world of gambling at arm’s length. They banned players, umpires and owners from betting on sports to insulate the game’s results from any suspicion of wrongdoing, a stance that dates back at least a century to the famous Black Sox scandal in 1919.

Some leagues also prohibited owners from owning stakes in casinos. In one case, Dan Rooney, the principal owner of the National Football League’s Pittsburgh Steelers, had to buy out his brothers in the team because they owned racetracks in New York and Florida. The NBA had no such rule and had owners with ties to casinos, including Tilman Fertitta, the current owner of the Houston Rockets.

“If betting is allowed freely on sporting events, normal game incidents such as poor passes, dropped balls, loss of possession and penalties will inevitably fuel speculation, distrust and accusations of match-fixing,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell , in 2012.

Yet at a time when sports betting — once done only in casino meccas like Las Vegas or through loan sharks — has been legalized in dozens of states, the leagues’ previous approach seems antiquated. While restrictions remain on players, referees and owners betting on their own sports, betting has been embraced by the sporting world.

They removed restrictions on casino and bookmaker advertising in stadiums and on television. Some stadiums, including FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, home of the NFL’s Washington Commanders, have in-house sportsbooks. Sports betting companies now plaster their names on stadium signs and buy TV commercials during games, including the Super Bowl, with all sorts of promotions to attract new customers.

The leagues have also changed their stance on operating in Las Vegas, the home of sports betting, which for years had been banned. Now the National Hockey League, Women’s National Basketball Association and NFL have teams in the city. Last month, MLB owners unanimously approved the A’s leaving Oakland and moving to Las Vegas. The NBA, which has held All-Star games, summer leagues and a new in-season tournament in Las Vegas, could add an expansion team in the city in the coming years, which would give every major professional sport a team in a location that leagues previously avoided it.

“Leagues are constantly reevaluating their businesses as laws change, social mores change and different companies and categories become larger,” said Marc Ganis, a consultant to several teams and leagues. “This includes reviewing ownership rules, sponsorships and advertising.”

Las Vegas’ acceptance of the NFL was perhaps the most surprising, given the league’s conservative reputation. The Raiders received approval to move to the city in 2017. The league held the Pro Bowl and college draft there. And in February, the league’s signature event — the Super Bowl — will be played in Las Vegas, removing perhaps the last vestige of any distance between it and the city.

The reassessment of leagues has been both practical and strategic. The biggest change came in 2018, after the Supreme Court ruled that a law banning sports betting in most of the country was unconstitutional. Dozens of states quickly approved the legalization of sports betting, far exceeding the amount spent in Las Vegas. The NFL now allows owners to have stakes in casinos that do not have sports betting, although it restricts owners from having more than a 5% stake in casinos that allow sports betting.

“Las Vegas is acceptable not so much because of us but because gambling is almost everywhere now,” said Michael Green, a historian at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “The Strip is as legitimate as any big business.”

At the same time, the image of Las Vegas as a desert oasis with casinos and nightclubs under mob control changed dramatically in the 1990s, when the Strip was transformed into an urban theme park where parents could take their children. Many visitors now come as much to see shows, such as U2 at the Sphere or the latest Cirque du Soleil extravaganza, as to visit the casinos.

And although Las Vegas is relatively small, with a population of about 2.5 million in the region, it has been able to support teams like the Raiders and the NHL’s Golden Knights because the city is a year-round destination, attracting about 40 million of tourists annually.

“There is a new audience being exposed to sports betting when visiting Las Vegas,” said Jay Kornegay, vice president of racing and sportsbook operations at Westgate Resorts.

Green noted that the Smith Center for the Performing Arts and the Mob Museum, both of which opened in 2012, also gave the city a measure of sophistication it previously lacked. He recalled how, just 20 years ago, the NFL blocked Las Vegas from buying ads during the Super Bowl, a decision that now seems antiquated.

“Remind me,” he said, “where is the next Super Bowl?”