BetMGM was in its infancy when its parent company signed a partnership agreement with media giant Yahoo that was geared toward growing awareness and reach for the sports betting start-up.
At the time, BetMGM – a 50-50 joint venture between MGM Resorts International and GVC Holdings – was active in just two states. But the agreement was viewed as groundbreaking for sports betting, pairing some 60 million monthly users of Yahoo Sports’ content with access to an activity that was rapidly expanding across the U.S.
Media partnerships are now commonplace in the sports betting universe, and are growing. The announcement earlier this month between Bally’s Corp. and the Sinclair Broadcast Group was the latest high-profile deal.
Sports betting is now active and regulated in 19 states and Washington D.C. Another six states have legalized sports betting and are expected to launch in 2021.
The Yahoo-BetMGM arrangement has been beneficial for both entities in capitalizing on the growth.
Yahoo Sports General Manager Geoff Reiss
Yahoo Sports General Manager Geoff Reiss said the company’s platforms bring a large fanbase to BetMGM in “what has been a seamless integration.”
Reiss, who oversees Yahoo’s relationship with BetMGM parent Roar Digital, will discuss the partnership on Wednesday during a panel session at the virtual Betting on Sports America conference.
“What Yahoo brings to the partnership is the largest base of the most qualified, predisposed, and passionate sports fans,” Reiss said in an interview last week. “We have the ability to provide frictionless and seamless integrations between the products.”
For now, Yahoo users in five states – New Jersey, Indiana, West Virginia, Colorado, and, most recently, Tennessee – are able to use their Yahoo account to register for and to sign in to their BetMGM account.
After registering for a BetMGM account, Yahoo Sports users can then place bets with BetMGM without having to download the BetMGM app.
Reiss said the relationship with BetMGM is still in the early stages. The COVID-19 pandemic, which shut down professional sports in the U.S. for several months, disrupted the rollout, but also gave Yahoo time to evaluate and fine-tune some of its ideas.
“This is a category with significant velocity,” Reiss said. “We’re still in the very early innings here. There is constant innovation taking place.”
Some of the newest features on Yahoo allows fantasy sports users in eligible states to see available player prop odds on the players’ tab and player card within several locations.
Users are able to place corresponding bets on the BetMGM platform. In addition, BetMGM has introduced unique player prop odds based on fantasy point totals, leveraging Yahoo’s fantasy scoring system.
BetMGM Chief Marketing Officer Matt Prevost said in October the partnership continues to produce new sports betting content.
The platform is now live in seven states – Tennessee, Colorado, Indiana, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, and West Virginia – but several states, such as Nevada, do not offer remote registration.
BetMGM recently received a license to offer online casino and sports betting in Pennsylvania and is anticipating going live with casino gaming in the state in December pending regulatory approval. BetMGM officials said the company hopes to include sports betting before the end of the year.
The company also has sports gaming marketing partnerships with five NFL teams – the Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans, Las Vegas Raiders, Detroit Lions, and Denver Broncos. Reiss said these partnerships are part of the fluid nature of the growth of sports betting.
“It’s a dynamic category and much of the discussion surrounding its trajectory is to service an active and growing fan base,” Reiss said. “We’re aware of the growing interest in our users.”
Yahoo is owned by Verizon, and Reiss works with the company’s corporate parent in developing digital sports experiences for fans across all platforms. His career in media has spanned digital, print, television, and live events, and he’s helped shape several media businesses in sports.
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgaming.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
