The current NFL season broke all records regarding sports betting partnerships, increasing the value by more than 12 percent. While the team sponsorships only increased by 4%, the league collected $1.8 billion in revenue.
Generally, contracts with the NFL usually run between three and seven years. After that, the amount of money depends on a sponsor where smaller companies come with an average $10 million deal, while more prominent businesses conclude even more lucrative contracts. Accordingly, the NFL betting sponsors come second after tech giants. Let's check the most valuable NFL sponsorship deals.
Verizon
With an annual fee of $300 million, Verizon is the highest-rated NFL's sponsor. In September 2021, NFL and the communication powerhouse reached an agreement that should last the next ten years. Moreover, Verizon pledged 5G rights to the NFL, granting the league's mobile rights for future sales.
Prospective agreements are a novelty in sports sponsorships, but their popularity is increasing. For example, the game between the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs attracted millions to watch the thrilling overtime. All spectators are potential customers that can bet on NFL or pay for additional services to communication partners. That is one great business opportunity for both sides.
Caesars Entertainment
Gambling giants bring one of the most profitable NFL’s sponsorship deals signed in 2021. The National Football League signed multi-year agreements with DraftKings and FanDuel the same day, which marked a milestone in the US sportsbook partnership. According to the management, all three sponsors will leverage NFL marks and activate around retail in the sports betting categories.
The offline and online sports betting heaven signed a multi-year agreement that includes traditional payments and benefits fans and casino players. According to Renie Anderson, CRO and Executive Vice President of "NFL Partnerships" Las Vegas powerhouse will retain its exclusive sports gambling deals. Moreover, they can combine the casino experience with trademarked items that fans consume.
For example, the sports betting site will offer themed slot machines with 1 deposit casino options next to NFL related content. As a fan, you will enjoy premier music artists, celebrity chefs, and branded merchandise onsite. The agreement also implies an online downloadable app similar to Fox Bet with popular games.
That's not all from NFL's sportsbook partners. Acting as a major sponsor, FanDuel will integrate relevant sports betting content into highlights and Next Get Stats. In addition, players can use in-game and post-game stats in fantasy sports and sportsbook platforms. The same applies to DraftKings, which will use official information feeds. Finally, all three operators will align with the NFL's core integrity policies.
A new gaming experience will bring the sports betting audience close to online casino enthusiasts. After all, the gaming experience will be very similar to that available at the Golden Tiger Casino Rewards. The functionality is different, but the result will be very similar for you. In addition, as the officials announced, the US favorite competition matched with premium gaming operators will produce next-level innovation products and unrivaled content streamed directly.
Microsoft
Even though official sports betting partners and their deals saw the most considerable increase compared to the last season, Microsoft remains in its firm position when talking about absolute dollar figures. The world-leading software company equips all teams with its powerful Surface tablet in an agreement worth $100 million.
Thanks to the tech partner, days when coaches used black-and-white snapshots from a printer behind the bench are long gone. Instead, information used to improve coaches' decisions flows through high-speed fiber optics to the Sideline Viewing System. In addition, the latest technological advancement by Microsoft enables zooming into details, making annotations, and reviewing plays.
The old "Telestrator" system could do the same thing without instant hi-res color images. On the other hand, Surface allows access to any photo at least 30 seconds faster than any other device. As a result, this new tool is an invaluable decision-making helper for adjustments on the fly for a coach.
Microsoft paid much attention to details to enable all sides to have the same conditions. For example, while all tablets have identical hardware, they prevent Internet access to league data or the installation of additional apps that could give a team a competitive edge. Moreover, the partners look for devices and collect them soon after the match is over.
TV Rights
From 2023 to 2033, the NFL will collect $105 billion in rights from TV stations and digital platforms in the United States only. Compared to the previous TV rights contract, the amount is increased by 108 percent, from 43,100,000,000 to 89,500,000,000. Moreover, Amazon streaming will replenish the NFL box office up to the maximum of 105,000,000,000.
Does it seem like a lot? Of course, and how could it not be when it comes to an amount higher than the annual gross national product of almost three-quarters of the countries. Now, is it worth it? The short answer is "yes" because 71 NFL productions are among the 100 most-watched shows on American television in 2020. TV stations only earned about 4,000,000,000 dollars from commercials broadcast during football matches.
Over the last few seasons, the difference in viewership of NFL-related events and other shows has only increased. Accordingly, the average viewership of last year's "Sunday Night Football" on NBC was 6,340,000 adults aged 18 to 49, while less than 830,000 watched other content, including reality shows. The situation is similar with Fox TV, on whose weekly matches viewers spent 52 percent of the total time spent in front of the screen of this television in 2020. In addition, the total viewership on all channels of the largest sports operator, ESPN, was as much as 13 percent, while CBS was 13, and NBC at 11 percent.
Conclusion
While contracts with approved sportsbook operators and industry-leading companies flourish, the NFL sees new technologies as the next giant leap. The NFL Chief is still at a wait-and-see approach when considering cryptocurrency, and the management examines prospective deals. They want to see what will turn out from a Binance-NBA four-year contract and how it will impact the future of sports.
Another point of consideration for official league deals stands in oversea territories. In 2022, the NFL's teams will advertise their brands in 26 states. This department is still waiting to see real traction.
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