Official betting is a form of gambling that uses official data to create engaging, valuable and scalable betting products for sportsbooks. The NHL, for example, created the first official Las Vegas team to leverage its brand and assets to expand the league’s presence in legal Nevada sportsbooks. This has led to partnerships with William Hill and MGM Resorts International. Clubs in states with legal sports betting have also signed sponsorship deals that include betting partnerships.
NBA players are allowed to place wagers on non-NBA events as long as they’re not inside the league’s facilities or on the road with their team. If they violate these rules, the league punishes them with a fine or suspension. The NBA has also beefed up its in-house technology, dedicating security personnel to the space and partnering with regulators, sportsbooks and integrity monitors.
This partnership approach has also been adopted by other sports, including the PGA Tour, which is working with multiple bookmakers on official betting content for its 2022 World Cup. Other leagues, such as the NFL, are taking a more cautious approach to betting, with each team developing its own in-house platform.
Some of these platforms will offer bets on futures, which are wagers on competition or tournament outrights (e.g. Denver Broncos O/U 57.5 Wins, Novak Djokovic O/U Wimbledon wins) or player prop futures, such as Aaron Rodgers O/U 42.5 Passing TDs for the season. These bets can be made on legal sportsbooks in states where betting is legal, although a number of limitations still exist.