Following on from last week’s headline study findings on the growing potential of sports betting to boost sports league income, the American Gaming Association (AGA) has released fresh figures suggesting that the four major leagues could net a collective $4.2bn from increased consumption of their products.
The latest figures, gathered on behalf of the AGA by Nielsen Sports, show that annual revenues for Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) could increase by $1.1bn and $585m, respectively, due to widely available, legal, regulated sports betting.
Add in the previously reported additional revenue projections of $2.3bn and $216m for the NFL and NHL respectively and the leagues are, indeed, looking at more than $4bn of new money coming into their sports without taking a single cent from sports wagers.
Nielsen’s study analyzes the revenue streams that legal sports betting could generate for both professional leagues: revenue as a result of spending from betting operators on advertising, data and sponsorship, and revenue generated as a result of increased consumption of the leagues’ media and products.
It predicts that greater fan engagement and viewership could boost the two leagues’ total annual revenue from media rights, sponsorships, merchandise and ticket sales, producing $952m for MLB and $425m for the NBA from increased consumption of the leagues’ products.
“The four major sports leagues will earn a collective $4.2bn from widely available legal sports betting, further proving that working together with the gaming industry will pay dividends for all sports stakeholders,” said Sara Slane, the AGA’s senior vice president of public affairs. “Legal sports betting will also create substantial opportunities for state and local economies, generating tax revenue, jobs and supporting small businesses across the country.”
This latest research shows that legal sports betting could help generate additional revenues of $160m for the NBA and $154m for MLB as a result of spending by betting operators and data providers. The study projects that gaming operators may spend $64m on MLB advertising and $57m on the NBA – which may directly increase the leagues’ rights fees by the same amount. Sponsorship revenues from gaming operators would provide an additional $78m for the NBA and $62m for MLB. The NBA and MLB are also projected to earn $25m and $28m from data rights, respectively.
