The NHL Ice Hockey League has been advised that it could profit by over $200m per year if it were to fully embrace sports betting in the United States.
The American Gaming Association (AGA) and Nielsen Sports released figures showing the league could see an increase in revenue of $216m, made up from advertising, sponsorship, data and the domino-effect of greater fan engagement. The new NHL season commences this week, with gamblers in West Virginia, Delaware, Mississippi and New Jersey now having the opportunity to legally bet on the sport for the first time.
Although the NHL has been an opponent of sports betting for a long time, it allowed Vegas Golden Knights to become the first major sports team to be located in the US gambling capital last year.
Sara Slane, Senior Vice-President of public affairs for the AGA commented that the announcement reaffirms that legal, regulated sports betting will create significant new revenue opportunities for sports leagues.
Slane went on to say that much like the NHL’s recent successful expansion into Las Vegas, legal sports betting will continue to expand across the country, bringing with it a $216m opportunity for the league.
The AGA’s Casey Clark said that the results of the study are very clear that widely available, legal, regulated sports betting will create huge new revenue opportunities for sports leagues like the NHL, without mandating the transfer of revenue from one highly regulated industry to another industry.
The AGA and Nielsen Sports issued a report last month suggesting that the NFL could see its revenue boosted by $2.3bn per year through widely available, legal, regulated US sports betting.
