College Sports Have The Most To Gain From Legal Sports Betting

• College sports have the most to gain with the increased nationwide legalization of sports betting.
• For broadcasting rights of the NCAA Tournament, the conferences will charge a premium due to increased fan engagement.
• These contracts will have the college sports industry break record highs in nearly all forms of revenue.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – It is not new or shocking information that legalized sports betting increases fan engagement and causes more viewers to watch sports programs.

As the country is heading into its second football season of nationwide sports betting, the constant attention given to sporting matchups has seen television ratings increase already.

In fact, according to a study by AdAge at the beginning of this year, network television lives and dies from live sporting events. For the top 100-most viewed broadcasts in 2018, 61 were NFL games and 89 of the total 100 were some form on live sporting event in general.

This focus on sporting entertainment comes as many grew up with teams to root for or have a friend or two that are passionate about a certain sport. But other studies have come out and explained that there has been an increase in viewership that stems not around the love of the game, but rather of the widespread legalization of sports betting.

Variety held a survey in states where gambling is already legal as well as those which have not yet legalized. The group found that interested bettors in non-legal states would be more likely to watch sports if they had placed a bet… as much as 88% more.

Of the respondents, the NFL appeared to be the highest beneficiary of the increased viewership, as 9 of 10 stated they would form an interest in gambling on football. However, the college game might have the most to gain from this as a whole.

The collegiate sports conferences make millions of dollars annually from the sales of their broadcasting rights. For example, in 2018, the NCAA collected over $1 billion from the advertisement, ticket sales, broadcasting contracts, and sponsorships for the March Madness tournament alone. With this, the revenue generated from the tournament accounted for a strong majority of the total revenue brought in.

To show their first approval towards sports betting and college sports, the NCAA removed their postseason tournament ban in states that have a form of legalized sports gambling. Now, every state is eligible to host a tournament game, and those with legal sports betting will see increased viewership as the previous studies suggest.

The same Vanity report also detailed how three of 10 respondents would pay more attention to commercial during a tournament game if they had money on the line.

“If you watch more of the event, you’re engaged, and if you’re engaged the ratings will go up,” said David Levy, the former President of Turner.

But the ratings will not be the only thing increasing. The league, with higher engagement, will easily be able to charge more for advertising slots, broadcasting rights, and sponsorships deals.

ESPN owns a majority of the broadcast deals with sports leagues, and the contracts do not end until 2021 at the earliest. For the Atlantic Coast Conference – known as the best basketball conference, having sent at least one team to the NCAA Championship in four of the last five title games – their contract with ESPN does not expire until 2027, with its expansion in 2012.

At the time of signing, a total of $17 million was sent to each school for a total of just under $240 million a year– an increase of roughly 50% from the year prior.

When contracts like these expire, we should expect to see these former numbers be laughed at with the known indication that sports betting will assist in viewership. Programs around the country are already adapting to add in sports betting focused content, and the information has even made its way on the radio airwaves to connect to a different market.

Larry Samuels of Strategic Acceleration Ventures believes sports viewers and the general public is finally ready for this type of product. Being this connected with their fans, the leagues will have “a great hook.”

“The leagues, even though they’ve been so cautious and so quiet, they’re going to make a fortune with this.” 

News tags: AdAge | David Levy | ESPN | Forbes | Larry Samuels | March Madness | NCAA | NFL | Strategic Acceleration Ventures | Variety