Goodbye prohibition, hello Official Casino of the Dallas Cowboys! This past Thursday, the Dallas Cowboys announced their partnership with WinStar World Casino and Resort in Thackerville, Oklahoma.
This is the first time a casino can display an NFL brand. The General Manager of WinStar, Jack Parkinson (who now calls himself a Cowboys fan), joined Jerry Jones, the team’s owner, and general manager during the announcement. This is what he had to say:
WinStar Casino and Resort
But who is the Cowboys’ new sponsor? The WinStar opened 9 years ago as a small Chickasaw Nation of Oklahoma casino. It may have opened small in 2003, but it has undergone massive expansions. In 2009, the WinStar Casino and Resort become the world’s largest casino with 600,000 square feet of casino floor. It doesn’t hold that record anymore but it still is the biggest in the US.
It is a 3-star hotel and holds a 4.3 average user-rating (based on 16,709 Google reviews). Even though the casino isn’t on Texan soil (it’s in Thackerville, OK) it is just a stone’s throw away from the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area. In fact –according to Google Maps– it’s only a 1.5-hour drive from the Cowboys AT&T Stadium to the WinStar.
All Bets Are On
Until very recently casinos couldn’t sponsor NFL teams officially and team owners would not make deals where gambling was involved. But this has changed since the United States Supreme Court declared the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) unconstitutional in May 2018.
As a result, the prohibition of sports betting in the US under federal law. As states have been moving to legalize and regulate betting, it seems like a natural next step for the gambling and sports worlds to come together. Teams can partner up with casinos and gaming companies, but they cannot deal with sportsbooks directly.
The NFL’s Bottom Line
The American Gaming Association (AGA) recently commissioned a Nielsen Sports study regarding the relationship between the NFL and sports betting. In a nutshell, it concluded that the NFL’s revenue could increase as much as $2.3 billion as a result of legalized sports betting in the US.
According to the AGA’s Senior VP of Public Affairs, Sara Slane:
More About the Nielsen Sports’ NFL Study
Nielson Sports surveyed 1,000 fans (bettors and non-bettors) to determine how their habits could impact the NFL’s revenue. It was reported that “viewership and fan engagement could increase the total annual revenue involving ticket sales, merchandise sales, sponsorships, and media rights by just over 13%”. In other words, just with merch and products, we’re talking about an additional $1.75 billion.
Other ways in which the NFL’s revenue will increase according to the study:
- $573 million – Spending by sportsbooks services and data providers
- $451 million – Money from advertising by gaming operators on advertising
- $92 million – Estimated sponsorship revenues each year
OUSC’s Take on The News
The Dallas Cowboys and WinStar are making current history with this deal. While it is the first, OUSC predicts it will not be the last. Other NFL giants will surely want to get in on the action – soon. This seems to be the turning point for professional sports opening the door to the gambling world.
Could this be the start of online casinos and sportsbooks partnering with sports teams? We think so.
