• by Tanya Gazdik , August 1, 2018

MGM Resorts International and the NBA have inked a multi-platform deal which makes the hospitality company its official gaming partner.

Industry sources pegged the deal to be for three years and at least $25 million, according to ESPN.

The alliance includes the NBA and WNBA providing MGM with official data and allowing the use of the leagues’ logos on a non-exclusive basis across MGM Resorts’ land-based and digital sports betting offerings throughout the United States. MGM Resorts will be promoted across the NBA’s digital assets including NBA TV, NBA.com, the NBA App and NBA social media platforms. 

The sports betting partnership is the NBA and WNBA’s latest collaboration with MGM Resorts.  In 2017, MGM Resorts purchased the WNBA’s Las Vegas Aces after receiving unanimous approval from the WNBA and NBA Board of Governors.  The Aces are Las Vegas’ first professional basketball team and play their home games at MGM Resorts’ Mandalay Bay Events Center.

MGM Resorts also has been the title partner of the MGM Resorts NBA Summer League the last two years.

The announcement was made Tuesday afternoon by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and MGM Resorts International Chairman and Chief Executive OfficerJim Murren in New York City.

The pact is the NBA’s first with a sports betting operator in the United States. and is the first of its kind between MGM Resorts and a major professional sports league.

“As the landscape for sports betting in the U.S. continues to evolve at a rapid pace, MGM Resorts is a proven gaming leader for us to work with on this groundbreaking partnership,” Silver said in a release.  “Our collaboration will result in the best possible gaming and entertainment experience for consumers through the use of accurate, real-time NBA and WNBA data, and our collective efforts to maintain and enhance the integrity of our games.”

Integrating the NBA’s assets and having official NBA data showcased across the MGM Resorts platforms will provide the company with a “distinct advantage and instill more confidence in knowing that our data is directly from the NBA,” Murren said in a release. 

MGM Resorts and the NBA will also partner on best-in-class practices to protect the integrity of NBA and WNBA games, including anonymized real-time data sharing. Finally, the NBA and MGM Resorts will also work together to create a series of integrations across NBA platforms, including a special digital content series.

The partnership follows the Supreme Court striking down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, the federal prohibition that restricted full-scale legal sports betting to only Nevada. The ruling opened a path for states to decide whether to legalize sports betting, according to ESPN.