Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
Tom Brady.
- With no March Madness, and NBA, NHL, and MLB seasons in limbo, US sports-media and betting companies are very ready for football.
- Insiders are hoping that the fall NFL season, which has been a launchpad for sports-betting products and marketing campaigns over the last two years, will still kick off as planned in September.
- "The worst case scenario is it delays the beginning of the NFL season," one sports-industry advisor said. "People are going to have to make some difficult decisions about their businesses."
- Currently, sports-betting and media companies are finding some solace amid the lack of live sports in the NFL free-agent discussions that started this week around players like Tom Brady.
- Click here for more BI Prime stories.
With no March Madness, and the current and upcoming NBA, NHL, and MLB seasons in limbo, US sports-betting companies are hanging their hopes on the fall NFL season kicking off as planned.
Sports-betting and media companies businesses are in a bit of a holding pattern right now as many major live-sporting events have been canceled amid coronavirus concerns.
Some are biding their time, cutting costs and focusing on smaller sports like horse racing, rugby, local soccer matches, and even politics. Everyone in the industry is eagerly watching to see if the NBA and NHL championships will still be played, even if played to empty venues.
But numerous people Business Insider spoke with said it would be catastrophic for the US sports-betting industry if the fall NFL and college football seasons are delayed.
"The optimistic view is in two to three weeks, we're getting to the other side of this and we have a sense of how long this will last," one sports-industry advisor told Business Insider. "The worst case scenario is it delays the beginning of the NFL season ... People are going to have to make some difficult decisions about their businesses."
Football is the most gambled on sport in the US.
In New Jersey, where the most money is legally wagered on sports outside of Nevada, $939 million was wagered on football in 2019. It made up 20% of all the money bet on sports that year.
Over the past two years, companies like FanDuel, theScore, and Fox Bet have launched sportsbooks around the start of football season, and run major marketing and promotional campaigns.
More US states, including Indiana and Colorado, were expected to bring legal betting online this year, making sports betting an even bigger opportunity in the US.
However, US president Donald Trump has also said the global coronavirus pandemic could continue to affect the country through August or longer. No one knows for sure at this moment.
Currently, the NFL pre-season is scheduled to start in August, with the regular season kicking off on September 10.
If sports return the air by then, even if they're played to empty stadiums, some insiders expect it will be a reawakening for the industry.
It'll be the moment to push out product launches or marketing campaigns that have been delayed.
"Hopefully in the fall with the NFL season, you'll have new, innovative next-gen looking sports-betting platforms," said Wayne Kimmel, at venture-capital firm SeventySix Capital, which invests in sports and technology companies. "It all depends upon if everyone can stay healthy and if we have a season. There's a lot of question marks."
Already, the NFL has provided sports-media companies and betting platforms with some fodder to fill the lack of live sports. News around free agents like Tom Brady have given sports companies topics to cover or take bets on. The NFL Draft is still set for April 23 to 25, though it will not include a public event.
When live sports do return, betting companies going to get behind it in a big way to make up for lost time and reconnect with sports fans.
"I don't think anything is ever going to be the way it was," said Chad Millman, chief content officer at The Action Network, which provides sports news and analysis for bettors. "But I do think sports betting is uniquely positioned to accelerate. When sports do come back there's going to be so much pent-up interest. It's once of those space where'd I'd only expect to get much much bigger."