American sports suffered another black eye after the arrests this week of an NBA coach and a current NBA player for their alleged ties to illegal sports betting and rigged poker games.
It’s the latest example of gambling and players breaking the rules. But for those who think this means leagues and teams will step back from their ties to sports gaming apps, here are four words for you: don’t bet on it.
Direct sponsorship deals between various legal sports books and the top American sports leagues are worth billions of dollars spread over several years and likely more than $1 billion annually, said Victor Matheson, an economics professor at the College of the Holy Cross and an expert on the business of sports and gambling.
Such sponsorship deals are “clearly very important” to the finances of sports leagues and teams, Matheson said. No matter how rich leagues are, the gambling sponsorships are “not something that anyone wants to turn down.”
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