If you are going to take a plunge into a crowded storytelling space, it always helps to be first, or at least first in a new area. That’s what the New Jersey Devils did this week, when they brought on sportsbook operator William Hill as a partner, putting their name on a Prudential Center lounge where games can be watched on more than 20 screens with odds boards displaying the menu of betting options across all sports. While they are the second NHL to go the William Hill, route, the Las Vegas Golden Knights were the obvious first choice, they certainly are the first, and the only, team in the four newly legalized sports betting states of New Jersey, Delaware, Mississippi and West Virginia to make the aggressive first step, one which other will follow…well when states that have professional sports teams open their doors to legalized gambling. (The Jets, Giants and Red Bulls, the only other three teams actually playing in those legal states, have not yet made the move to in-stadium wagering venues).
According to ESPN’s Darren Rovell, who first wrote about the story, “Because the NHL is not comfortable with the venue being an actual sportsbook where bets can be placed at windows and kiosks, William Hill US CEO Joe Asher told ESPN that company ambassadors will assist bettors in downloading William Hill’s betting app. The space is being converted and rebranded quickly, but there is currently no opening date.” However the gates and the opportunity for all events to have open sports wagering now reside in the Prudential Center, which will serve as a litmus test for how the fan engagement will mix with the live event.
Now this is not the first time that a stadium or arena has found a way to re-use space for interaction around activities where dollars can change hands. The Jacksonville Jaguars built out a fully tricked out fantasy area a few years ago as the DFS boom took off, serving as really the first big test for fantasy players to go to an event but be engaged with games, and their players of choice, elsewhere.
However a real value for arenas and stadia, especially those in high trafficked areas, will be to use these types of legal gambling spaces on days when events are NOT going on. The ancillary revenue from food and beverage, merchandise and foot traffic, not to mention brand awareness for casual fans coming into a venue, is a solid growth area, one that has been heralded by Monumental Sports and Entertainment CEO Ted Leonsis for some time, and will probably come on line when the District of Columbia legalizes sports gambling in the not too distant future. While engaging a captive audience like the Devils will do has little downside and is a smart first move, finding new ways to use venues with high end entertainment areas on dark nights, or even during a work day, is something that will make great dollars and sense as sports gambling moves along its adoption path. The ultimate payoff for many fans in the US, like it is in places like the UK, will be in a mobile environment where bets to phone will become king, but having a new use for brick and mortar areas already in place but sometimes underused, will spell added opportunity for those landlords.
The move to quick adoption is not the first time the Devils have gone the all-in route by the way. When online poker went legal in New Jersey, the Devils found a way to engage pretty quickly, and the same with DFS, being one of the first teams to toe dip into the waters. The move also makes sense from a sales standpoint not just for the Devils, but for the Sixers, headquartered in Camden and their Delaware based G League team, who has the ability to promote online gambling to an expanded audience that may not be fans of the NHL and Newark. Geographic luck does have its advantages in sometimes for sure.
Now will this be the go-to place for all fans New Jersey, leaving swaths of purchased but empty seats during play? Nah. You still have to engage with an app, and the betting audience is still growing, and may not actually match up directly to a fan friendly NHL clientele. Devils fans are still coming for devils hockey first. What is more valuable is the added sponsorship dollars, the revenue share with no risk, and the ability to engage in a conversation for a franchise that is always looking to find its growing place in a sports landscape that remains ultra-competitive and very cluttered from Philly to the Big Apple.
Talking legalized gambling is one thing; offering it as a first look in venue is another, and that’s where the Devils won this week, and probably going forward as well.
