WORLD NEWS: COWBOYS 1ST NFL TEAM TO PARTNER WITH CASINO & TABCORP THE FRONTRUNNER TO BUY NZ TAB

The NFL has lifted its ban on casino advertising and allowed land-based casinos the opportunity to sponsor teams. As part of the move, casinos will be allowed to use NFL team logos on advertising and promotional material.

The Dallas Cowboys became the first NFL team to have an official casino sponsorship (they describe it as a designation). announcing a partnership with WinStar World Casino and Resort last week.

“The Dallas Cowboys take great pride in aligning themselves with the best brands in the world,” owner Jerry Jones said. “It is a privilege to stand shoulder to shoulder as partners with such a prominent entertainment brand like WinStar World Casino.”

“We are excited about the future of gaming as it relates to the NFL,” Jones said.

Casinos will still be prohibited from explicitly advertising sportsbooks using the teams that are sponsored by them. There are also reports that NFL franchises will not be allowed to take revenue shares from business driven to gambling sites or casinos.

In May, the United States Supreme Court overturned a 1992 federal law against sports betting and granted power to the states to make individual decisions about whether to legalize the practice.

Now the NFL stands to generate massive revenue from the expected wagers.

CNN Money reported last Wednesday that a Nielsen survey commissioned by the American Gaming Association shows the league could generate $2.3 billion in additional yearly revenue from bets placed on its games as well as other money streams, such as sponsorship deals.

“Legal, regulated sports betting will create huge new revenue opportunities for sports leagues—and the NFL could be the biggest winner of all,” an AGA spokesperson said.

The Cowboys, which already ranked first in Forbes’ NFL team values at US$4.8 billion for 2017, are getting ahead of the curve with their WinStar World Casino and Resort deal.

TABCORP THE FRONTRUNNER FOR RIGHTS TO NEW ZEALAND RACING BOARD OPERATIONS

New Zealand’s race and sports betting industry is in for a shake-up after a government report recommended outsourcing the TAB’s commercial operations.

The Messara Report commissioned by Racing Minister Winston Peters and authored by John Messara, chairman of Racing New South Wales, concluded that New Zealand’s thoroughbred racing industry is “in a state of serious malaise.”

Messara says the current operations of the New Zealand Racing Board (NZRB) can’t deliver the funding the industry requires, while the NZRB’s TAB betting business can’t compete with major international wagering operators.

Messara recommends remodelling the NZRB as Wagering NZ, a holding company for racing’s wagering, broadcasting and gaming activities. This will involve “a full operational outsourcing of all domestic wagering, broadcast and gaming operations, to a single third-party wagering and media operator of international scale, under a long-term contract, with the NZRB holding the licence.”

Australia’s Tabcorp Holdings is an early frontrunner to win the rights to be NZRB’s new wagering and media operator, which they see as part of a push into overseas markets to diversify their earnings.

Sources: NY Times, CNN Money, Forbes, Gambling Insider, Calvin Ayre