Betway Signs First North American Sports Betting Partnership Deal With the NHL

The evolution of sports betting provider/North American league partnership deals wrote another chapter Friday with the newest member of the US legal sports betting scene, Super Group's Betway brand, announcing that they are the latest Official Sports Betting Partner of the National Hockey League. The deal comes just in time to take advantage of the two-month NHL playoff run that began Saturday.

Anthony Werkman, CEO of Betway, said: “It’s an incredibly proud moment as we announce our first North American sports league partnership with the NHL. Starting with the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Betway brand will receive major exposure to sports fans around the globe and that will continue at other NHL tentpole events throughout the calendar, which is hugely exciting for us.”

Betway joined the US legal sports betting family just three weeks ago and arrives with big plans to quickly make a name for themselves in the competitive and rapidly growing US market. A deal with one of the four major North American sports leagues is a start, but likely won't be the end for a company that has already telegraphed some major moves for their brand.

What Is Betway

Betway may not be the most recognizable brand in North America but in Europe and Africa, they are known as one of the elite sports betting providers.

Today, they have a presence in 23 jurisdictions throughout Europe, the Americas and Africa and brought in an estimated $42 million in total global sports betting handle in the fiscal year that ended March 31. The company currently has over 2.5 million monthly subscribers around the world and is looking to expand that reach into the most up-and-coming market on the planet, the US.

Already boasting relationships with NBA teams, the Chicago Bulls, Golden State Warriors, Brooklyn Nets and LA Clippers, there came a need to make a splash with a major North American sports league. And the NHL was eager to oblige.

What's the Deal?

There has been a pretty good blueprint for sports betting provider/sports league partnerships already established in North America. Betway and the NHL didn't veer far off of what has already been accomplished with such partnership deals already.

For Betway, it is all about exposure and the right to use NHL marks, logos and official designations designed to help the company create and maintain an authentic and all-encompassing fan experience.

Exposure comes in the form of advertising, which will immediately become prevalent before, during and after all NHL broadcasts. Betway signage in and around NHL venues will also be omni-present under the terms of the new deal. Betway will also be afforded the opportunity to expand their exposure via of NHL media assets including custom digital, social and email marketing campaigns.

Super Group CEO Neal Menashe said of the ground-breaking deal: “This deal strengthens our global strategy to partner with the biggest leagues in the most popular sports around the world. Tens of millions of viewers will see the Betway logo on the ice for these prestigious games as we make ourselves known to a new audience in the US and beyond.”

Betway's Been Busy

Although the NHL partnership announcement may capture most of the headlines, Super Group and Betway have already forged a path for themselves in the US legal sports betting industry.

Shortly after announcing their intention to enter the US space, Super Group signed on with Sports Entertainment Acquisition Corp., a blank-check company that teams up with companies in order to make them a publicly traded entity. Having Super Group and Betway listed on Nasdaq increases the brand's exposure and allows it to raise capitol, which will be used to further their expansion plans within the US market.

About the same time, Super Group and Betway bought Digital Gaming Corp., which immediately gave the sports betting provider access to 10 US states including Heavyweights New Jersey, Colorado, Indiana, and Iowa. Digital Gaming Corp. in essence allows Betway to forego all of the regulatory minutia en route to market access into a host of legal sports betting jurisdictions.

What It All means

Betway apparently means business. In a short amount of time, they have made some aggressive moves into the US legal sports betting space. The NHL will likely be just the first of many partnership deals that Super Group and its brand Betway are able to sign.

As for the legal sports betting scene in the US, nearly all aspects of the sporting world are now covered by wagering provider partnership deals, from leagues, to teams, to individual athletes. Expect the gold rush to continue and for the sports betting ceiling to keep being raised.