If not, why not have the same experience, but while playing against friends, and playing for tickets, merchandise, and trips to the Winter Classic or Stanley Cup.” “Where sports betting is legal, sure, place a bet. “We do believe there is a market for sports and NHL fans to participate in social gaming around the entire country,” Wachtel said. The league will share proprietary data with MGM, which could help drive prop bets and social gaming. There is hope the partnerships will lead to greater engagement and help grow the sport’s fan base, even in states where sports betting isn’t legal. “Fan engagement, technological advancement and innovation are paramount to our progressive approach and will be at the forefront of everything we do.”

“The new sports betting landscape presents a unique opportunity for fan engagement utilizing technology and data that are exclusive to our league,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in the MGM partnership announcement.

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The non-exclusive deals with the NHL both offer unique and exciting possibilities - and a few more could be in the works. The NHL also announced a partnership with FanDuel this week as the league’s official daily fantasy sports partner. The Devils are also partnered with Caesars and FanDuel. The league’s announcement of its partnership with MGM followed announcements of the Vegas Golden Knights and New Jersey Devils partnerships with William Hill. “Once we saw the path, we spent a lot of time talking to operators of what it is that would make sense.” “The benefit of the Golden Knights was to see the opportunity with sports betting as it relates to hockey, which is fourth of the big four sports,” Wachtel said. The league has had its award show in Las Vegas for nearly a decade, along with several years setting up the Vegas Golden Knights and the team’s improbable run to the Stanley Cup Final. The NHL’s official sports betting partnership with MGM Resorts International is the latest fruit of the time spent in Nevada, but it’s just scratching the surface for what could lie ahead, said league EVP and Chief Revenue Officer Keith Wachtel. The NHL has spent a lot of time in Las Vegas the past decade, allowing the league to take a lead in innovative partnerships with sportsbook operators.

Nhl sports betting partners