NBA, WNBA Partner with MGM in Multiyear Agreement on Sports Gambling
The NBA and the WNBA just made history with their latest partnership.
On Tuesday, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced a multiyear agreement that will make MGM Resorts the official gaming partner of the NBA and the WNBA: "As the landscape for sports betting in the U.S. continues to evolve at a rapid pace, MGM Resorts is a proven gaming leader for us to work with on this groundbreaking partnership."
The deal is expected to be in the range of three years and $25 million, per ESPN's Darren Rovell and David Purdum. With the agreement, the NBA and WNBA become the first major sports leagues to have a betting sponsor.
This partnership comes just more than two months after the Supreme Court of the United States voted 6-3 to overturn the ban on sports gambling, via CNN's Ariane de Vogue and Maegan Vazquez. Silver noted on ESPN's Get Up! back in April that his league would get in on the action should sports gambling be legalized:
After the ban was overturned, he addressed the matter again:
According to Rovell, MGM will now be allowed "to use league highlights, names, logos and its direct data feed" while marketing itself as the official gaming partner of both leagues.
"The NBA has always been an innovator at the forefront of sports evolution, and MGM Resorts is thrilled to partner with the league to revolutionize sports betting in the United States," MGM chairman Jim Murren said, via NBA.com. "Integrating the NBA's assets and having official NBA data showcased across the MGM Resorts platforms will provide us with a distinct advantage and instill more confidence in knowing that our data is directly from the NBA."
Silver has long made it known that he isn't opposed to welcoming sports gambling into basketball. Now that it has become a reality, he is making the most of it.
