Caesars & Fiesta Bowl Form Sports Betting Partnership in Arizona
The New Year’s Six bowl games come to mind when you think of Division I College Football. The Action Network’s Darren Rovell was the first to report on Twitter that the Fiesta Bowl will begin an exclusive sports betting and fantasy game partnership with Caesars Entertainment.
Caesars & Fiesta Bowl Arizona Partnership
This is a multi-year agreement, though none of the financial aspects of the deal are known as of this writing.
Having a prominent sportsbook like Caesars is going to be a huge deal. The same goes for the fact that the state of Arizona (the Fiesta bowl is held annually at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona) legalized sports betting on September 9, 2021.
This is not the only time throughout the New Year’s Six bowls that Caesars will have their name out there as they are also the stadium sponsor of the Superdome in New Orleans.
This was a shock to immediately read as in January 2019, President of the NCAA Mark Emmert said that the idea of sports betting inside of the world of collegiate sports would “threaten the integrity” of it.
This could be the feeling for those in the higher positions throughout the NCAA, but due to the financial hit that they took due to COVID-19, they could have been coerced to try to reach their profit margins as they have been in previous fiscal years.
At least 13 states have NIL laws that do not allow athletes to enter into deals with gambling sites and casinos. Teams competing in the Fiesta Bowl will not be involved in the promotions either.
With more than half of the United States being able to have any form of legalized sports betting, this partnership was bound to happen, and when have you ever known the NCAA to do anything besides chase the money?
This is a story that has not gotten enough traction as this is a historic partnership. As sports betting continues to grow and become legalized throughout the entire United States of America, partnerships like this will be more and more prevalent throughout the marketplace.
Wrapping Things Up
People that want to place wagers on sports will figure out how to whether legally or illegally so with the addition of fans being able to place wagers at a sportsbook located adjacent to the Arizona Diamondbacks Chase Field.
Thinking of the progression throughout the history of collegiate sports, a partnership similar to this one was almost a fantasy as collegiate sports has been so anti-betting. However, beliefs are able to change when the money and contract are placed right under your nose and this is a way to build revenue for the state, Caesars Entertainment, and the fans as well.
When sports betting entered the professional sports leagues and were embraced, it was only a matter of time until the collegiate sports (conferences, colleges, NCAA, etc) were accepting it into their games as millions of people are watching each of their major bowl games and this gives the NCAA to make their game more accessible to people who might not have been as interested previously.
