The XFL happens to be the youngest professional sports league in the USA. Since its demise after its first season in 2001, the league has not been in operation for close to two decades until its relaunch in February 2020.
The new league is embracing sports betting more than any other professional or collegiate league in the Us ever has. While the National Football League (NFL) and other pro leagues spent years fighting in court to stop the expansion of sports betting, the XFL started its reboot by consulting with sportsbooks on new rules and encouraging broadcasting partners to infuse betting into broadcasts.
XFL might be a young league but make no mistake, it appears to be ahead of the gambling game. Only time will tell whether the league’s warm sports betting embrace will pay off. In this article, we will focus on highlighting different ways through which the best football betting sites help XFL evolve.
The Relationship Between the XFL and Sports Betting
The XFL is different from the NFL and most professional and collegiate leagues in many ways. Most notably, the league is extremely young and does not share the same complex relationship with sports betting as other pro leagues.
Unlike most major leagues in the US, XFL did not fight against New Jersey’s efforts to challenge the federal sports betting ban in 2018. As a matter of fact, the XFL was not even in operation at the time.
On the contrary, the XFL has taken a stand to embrace sports betting with open arms. At a time when other leagues are just coming around to accepting sports betting and forming data-sharing arrangements with operators, the XFL launched with betting lines integrated into broadcasts on its first day in business.
According to Jeffrey Pollack, XFL President, sports betting is a vital part of the modern-day sporting experience and it’s therefore unwise to ignore it. Below is a comment from Pollack during an interview with ESPN prior to XFL’s launch:
“For a majority of our fans, fantasy sports, free-to-play gaming, and legal sports wagering have become essentials for their football experience just like jerseys, balls, and helmets.”
It is therefore not surprising that the league did not waste any time cozying up to the betting industry. A few days before the first match of the inaugural season, the XFL signed an agreement with DraftKings, making the sportsbook its Official Daily Fantasy Sports Partner and “Authorized Gaming Operator during the league’s first season.
Ways XFL Benefits from Sports Betting
XFL seems to understand that people love to watch games they have staked money in. This league’s officials believes that sports betting is growing to become an integral part of professional sports, and hence the league’s business strategy is based on this leap of faith.
According to Forbes, XFL embraces sports betting in a quest to establish itself as the most sports betting-friendly league in the country. But how exactly does the league benefit from sports betting? Well, let’s find out.
Funding Through Sponsorships and Partnerships
Like any other organization, the XFL cannot perform effectively and efficiently without proper funding. One of the ways to fund sports leagues and teams is through sponsorship agreements.
Over the past two years, the league has managed to secure several sponsorship deals with some of the leading bookmakers in the US. Sports betting sites are also eagerly looking for opportunities in the new league.
Online sportsbooks DraftKings and FanDuel have already closed partnership agreements with the fledgling league. However, bookmakers have expressed some degree of uncertainty around XFL betting.
“The XFL presents an intriguing opportunity. No one knows what the future holds for sure, but the league had its learning experience during its first go-round. A lot of what the XFL has managed to put together sums up to an intriguing product, and football in the USA is the 800-pound gorilla of the market,” commented Mike Raffensperger, FanDuel’s CMO.
A Boost in Consumer Awareness
The XFL has been working to secure data-sharing arrangements with sports betting operators in a quest to promote its wagering facet. When creating its rules and scoring system, the XFL had the bettors’ needs in mind and even bounced ideas off Las Vegas bookie operators to see what works best and what doesn’t.
The league has a partnership agreement with Action Network, one which will see the sports betting network publish analysis and information coverage on the league. This deal is intended to provide bettors with all relevant information needed to make informed wagers on XFL games.
Helps Secure Media Rights Sales
XFL has also secured agreements with its broadcasters, which are Fox Sports, ABC, and ESPN, to display XFL betting odds. This will encourage fans to watch the league’s matches on these sports media outlets.
Copyrights and other sports production-related rights, especially those relating to broadcasting, underpin the relationship between sports and the media. Media organizations pay huge amounts of money to acquire exclusive broadcasting rights from leagues and individual teams.
For most sports organizations, media rights sales are one of the biggest sources of revenue, raising the capital required to finance sporting events, pay elite players, renovate stadiums, and develop grassroots teams and leagues.
Free Marketing
Online sports betting sites have well-funded marketing campaigns advertising odds from different professional leagues. With these betting sites marketing their XFL betting odds, they will be promoting the league in a way.
Sportsbook operators are already excited about the opportunities presented by the young XFL league and they are more than willing to increase their marketing spending to promote their odds on the league’s games.
Promoting Fantasy XFL
The first XFL daily fantasy contest kicked off at the beginning of the league’s inaugural season, offering fans in states without legal sports betting markets an opportunity to get in on the action. If your state has not sanctioned sports betting, daily fantasy XFL is the best alternative.
FanDuel and DraftKings have both embraced XFL and host fairly huge fantasy contents on the league. The contests’ prize pools can be as big as six figures. However, the scoring rules for XFL fantasy vary from one site to the other but with a striking resemblance to those of fantasy football.
