Gannett this week signed a five-year deal valued at more than $100 million with a sports-betting company. The agreement will help the publisher, whose newspapers include
USA Today, to
diversify revenue somewhat amid the ongoing pressure on advertising sales.
In the
deal with Tipico USA Technology, the U.S. division of German
sports betting company Tipico Group will provide betting odds for Gannett’s sports content. The publisher’s websites will show a button or an icon for Tipico that points readers to the
online betting platform.
Tipico will pay a referral fee to Gannett for signing up first-time bettors; it will also spend $90 million on advertising and sponsored content that
includes columns, blog posts, events and videos. Gannett will receive a 1% equity interest in Tipico USA Technology and an option to expand its ownership to 4.99% in the next five years.
“Our highly engaged audience of more than 46 million sports fans crave analysis, betting insights, odds and unique features which we will provide with our Tipico
alliance,” Michael Reed, chairman and CEO of Gannett, stated.
Since completing a merger with GateHouse Media in 2019, Gannett has announced a variety of initiatives to
restore revenue growth. Flagship title
USA Today this month
introduced a digital
paywall to generate more reader revenue after offering its content for free.
As advertisers shift their media spending to digital platforms including search and social
media, Gannett has experienced years of
revenue declines. The
company’s advertising marketing and sales revenue fell 20% from a year earlier to $388.4 million in the first quarter, while circulation revenue slipped 13% to $325.4 million.
The agreement with Tipico comes as more states legalize sports betting, leading several news outlets to partner with betting platforms.
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Sports betting company FanDuel in May agreed to pay
the Associated Press to show sports odds among news coverage. ViacomCBS’ CBS Sports and Disney's ESPN also teamed with companies to show betting odds, while Fox started its Fox Bet sports
betting two years ago in a partnership with The Stars Group.
Legalized sports betting its still in its infancy in the U.S. and its growth present an opportunity for publishers
to generate incremental revenue with sports-betting platforms.