MGM Becomes Official Casino Partner Of Boston Red SoxMGM Becomes The First Gaming Company To Sign A Partnership With A Specific MLB Team |
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MGM Resorts International signed a partnership with the Boston Red Sox last Friday, making them the first gaming operator to ink a deal with a specific Major League Baseball club.
This is the second deal that MGM has signed with a professional sports team. Last October, they agreed to a partnership with the New York Jets of the National Football League. The following month, they became the official gaming partner of MLB. They signed deals with the NFL and the National Hockey League earlier in 2018.
Their deal with the Red Sox will start at the beginning of the 2019 season and will give MGM prime advertising locations around Fenway Park, most notably behind home plate and on the ‘Green Monster,’ the nickname for the 37-foot high iconic left field wall.
MGM will also offer exclusive game day experiences at Fenway for its VIPs and will host the Red Sox annual Winter Weekend event at MGM Springfield, located about 90 miles west of Boston.
“We are excited to enter into this historic partnership with the Boston Red Sox,” said MGM CEO Jim Murren. “Combining the two iconic brands of the Red Sox and MGM Resorts will create a new one-of-a-kind fan experience for baseball fans unique to not only New England and MGM Springfield, but the rest of the country.”
The partnership comes shortly after MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred told reporters in Boston that he thought sports betting was a “great source of fan engagement.
In an effort to keep the integrity of the games, MLB will institute a new rule in 2019. Managers must submit lineups to the commissioner’s office at least 15 minutes before they are released to the public.
With sports betting being legalized in many states around the country after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned PASPA last May, gaming operators have quickly become more involved in the space nationwide.
Caesars announced a partnership with the NFL at the start of the year and signed deals with the National Basketball Association’s Philadelphia 76ers and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils last October.
Much of the appeal of sports betting craze has been tied to mobile wagering, which is legal in New Jersey. About 80 percent of New Jersey’s record $385 million handle in January came from online wagers.
Photo Credit: AP
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