After Backlash, Vegas Golden Knights End UpickTrade Partnership

• The NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights have terminated their deal with sports betting pick seller, UpickTrade.
• The Golden Knights received backlash for the initial partnership.
• UpickTrade feels blindsided by the decision.

LAS VEGAS – The Vegas Golden Knights have ended a very short-lived partnership with the popular pick seller UpickTrade following backlash from fans media.

The initial deal was a multi-year partnership that would have promoted UpickTrade during Golden Knights games.

The criticisms of the deal mainly came from the negative stigma towards pick-selling services in general. The legal sports betting integrity of a site like UpickTrade eventually led to the dissolving partnership.

Short-Lived Partnership

UpickTrade and the Vegas Golden Knights announced their partnership on Wednesday, February 25 and the deal ended not even a full week following the announcement.

The backlash that Vegas received was almost immediate. While there was initial optimism coming from both parties when the partnership was first announced, the negative response clearly got to the team’s front office.

“We are hopeful our fanbase will make UpickTrade.com a part of their sports pick betting process,” said Mike Mungiello, vice president of global partnerships for the Knights during the initial announcement.

Fans’ negative reaction came from the stigma surrounding pick sellers. While sports betting sites are viewed in a positive light, pick sellers are viewed as shady. UpickTrade specifically has a reputation of selling picks on both sides in order to gain more profit as well as artificially increasing the success rate of their winning picks.

Industry experts are now viewing Vegas’s decision to sever ties with UpickTrade as a smart move. The fact that the NHL team moved so quickly may bring some positive press to the organization, showing that they listen to fans.

“The sportsbooks are in the business of taking bets either way. Touts, on the other hand, are trying to pick winners and tell people how to bet,” said David Schwartz UNLV gaming historian. “So it raises a lot of questions if the team and tout have a financial arrangement together. If the tout picks against the team, what does that mean? It probably wasn’t the best decision by the Knights, but at least they’ve rescinded that. It’s a valuable lesson for any team that there are some lines that shouldn’t be crossed. It shows how organizations have to understand the business and culture of sports betting.”

The deal was supposed to be a way to truly combine the NHL season with NHL betting, as the Golden Knights fans would see UpickTrade information during games and be tempted to purchase picks.

“We are still in shock about the decision,” said a spokesperson from UpickTrade.

Vegas Golden Knights gave no further information when announcing the ending of the partnership, and will likely not mention things in the future. The NHL team will likely want to shift fan focus from the negative event back onto the season.

News tags: David Schwartz | hockey | Las Vegas | Mike Mungiello Carlos Lazo Reyes | NHL | UpickTrade | Vegas Golden Knights