Unibet already Eagles’ official casino partner
Unibet and the Philadelphia Eagles are leveling-up their existing partnership as the iGaming giant has been named an official sportsbook partner of the NFL franchise.
Thursday’s deal expands on a previous compact signed in November 2019 that gave Unibet, part of the Malta-based Kindred Group, official casino partner rights.
Unibet expects to provide the Philly franchise’s fans with “unique, innovative experiences”
Arnas Janickas, Kindred Group’s VP marketing US, said the augmentation of the partnership was “an exciting add on” to an already strong working relationship. Under the extended collaboration with the Eagles, Janickas said Unibet expects to provide the Philly franchise’s fans with “unique, innovative experiences […] which we hope will last for a long time.”
Neither the Eagles nor Unibet disclosed the terms or duration of the sportsbook deal.
Unibet’s parent company announced the news in a tweet Thursday:
Prior to the 2020 season, sportsbooks were not allowed by the NFL to actively promote sports betting. With the rules now changed, NFL franchises are fast warming to the many benefits of forging sportsbook tie-ins, including increased fan engagement.
Betting companies, NFL doing brisk business
Although Unibet has beefed up its existing Eagles partnership, it is not the only sports gambling brand attached to the NFL team. Official Eagles partnerships struck with Fox Bet and most recently DraftKings illustrate a growing NFL marketing trend of franchises working with multiple sports gambling brands.
At some point, there’s diminished value once you go beyond three.”
Catherine Carlson, Eagles senior VP of revenue and strategy, has previously said that the optimum number of sports gambling brands is three. Following the extension of Unibet’s role, it seems to jibe with Carlson’s opinion that: “At some point, there’s diminished value once you go beyond three.”
Talking about the extended partnership in a press release, Carlson said the franchise was excited to grow the relationship through “new opportunities and initiatives.”
“It has been rewarding to work with Unibet over the past year and we look forward to a successful future with them,” Carlson said.
Pennsylvania has great sports betting month
In August, the Keystone State placed third in the US with a monthly sports betting handle of nearly $365m, a new state record. In September, however, it easily smashed its own record, generating $462.8m in bets.
According to the monthly report by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, FanDuel’s online sportsbook took the top spot yet again, posting a handle of $168m. DraftKings came second, smashing the $100m handle threshold for the first time by raking in $116.5m. The September debut of the highly anticipated Barstool Sportsbook (Hollywood Casino) saw the newcomer take an impressive third place, with a $30m handle.
Fox Bet (Mount Airy) and Unibet (Mohegan Sun Pocono) posted $24m and $7.6m in handle, respectively.