The big four of major sports leagues (the NFL, MLB, NHL, and NBA) have been quite active in their support of sports betting. Just last week, the NBA announced their intention to unveil a virtual sports betting game at the start of next season. This week, another big sports league is making their advance towards gambling.
Major League Soccer announced monumental changes to rules and regulations surrounding commercial sponsorships. MLS is already known for supporting sponsorships and advertisements, especially when you consider how much marketing material you can find on just about any club’s jerseys. Now they’re taking things a step further by allowing sponsorships with gambling and liquor companies.
Of the big four sports leagues, only the NBA has allowed the use of patches from sponsors. The other three leagues are also considering the use of sponsor patches. Even though the NBA does allow patches, they definitely haven’t allowed any sponsorships from gambling or liquor companies. This certainly makes for a first in U.S. sports.
The changes do come as a small surprise considering that there is a fair deal of opposition to legal sports betting. Most of this is prompted by a belief that legal sports betting fuels gambling addiction, so for a major sports leagues to openly display sponsorship materials related to gambling, there definitely isn’t yet a precedent.
When you also consider that these changes include sponsorships with liquor companies, MLS is certainly shaking things up. Carter Ladd, Senior Vice President of Business Development for MLS, has indicated that much of this is steered by a wish to be seen as “a progressive league”. He continues on to say that this is a way of enabling the clubs within the league, and should serve as a good source of earning revenue.
The new rules and regulations will allow sports gambling sponsors to use advertising in several different ways. Not only can they advertise in stadiums, but they can also do so digitally, use the club’s logos for advertising purposes, purchase air time during broadcasts, and even have the freedom to persuade fans to place bets.
While these might seem fairly lax, there are a few restrictions surrounding these rules. Jerseys that are sold in youth sizes will not include material from these sponsors, nor will underage players that represent the club bear any liquor or gambling sponsorship advertisements. Furthermore, MLS players will not be allowed to appear in sports betting advertisements, but they will be allowed to participate in alcohol advertisements as long as they’re 21 or older.
MLS embracing legal sports betting can only serve to help the industry. Even though it isn’t one of the big four sports leagues, their moves should serve as examples for years to come. In a desire to be progressive, MLS has certainly achieved that with their new sponsorship rules. Fortunately, they’ll still take caution to ensure youths are not the target of advertisements. You can expect clubs to start making deals with sponsorships later this year.
