Effective from the start of the upcoming 2020 season, the NFL has announced that teams may accept sportsbook operator sponsorships and that a select number of stadia will be allowed to have betting lounges.
While the move will be seen as yet another example of the NFL’s more inclusive approach to legalized sports betting, it remains adamant in its prohibition of retail sportsbooks at its stadia. Hence there will be no physical betting windows, only betting lounges.
NFL Chief Strategy and Growth Officer Chris Halpin, quoted by Gambling News, explained that the betting lounge offering, open to franchises whose stadia are located in jurisdictions where sports gambling is legal, will showcase mobile betting options.
He stated: “We’re allowing betting lounges. Similar to daily fantasy lounges today, in an adult, discreet area. There will be a betting setup, but we’re not going to have betting windows.
“We feel good about how it’s evolved state by state,” Halpin said of the growing American sports betting market. “We’re more and more excited about how sports betting is developing, and we’re now doing more in the space. We’re very positive about how it’s developing.”
As a result of the league’s new policy, NFL franchises can now designate official sportsbook sponsors and display signage in stadia with some restrictions. For example, the word “sponsor” needs to be included in reference to sportsbooks, and sports betting signage remains prohibited in the lower sections of the venues.
As it stands, four states where legal sportsbooks operate are home to NFL outfits: Indiana, Nevada, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Several more jurisdictions, which include NFL home states such as the District of Columbia, Illinois and Tennessee, are expected to launch sports betting later in the year.
