By ALAN SNEL
LVSportsBiz.com
This time, it’s Major League Baseball’s logos you will see in MGM Resorts International’s advertisements and promotional campaigns after Las Vegas-based MGM Resorts is the first-ever “Official Gaming Partner of MLB” and “Official Entertainment Partner of MLB.”
The sponsorship marriage between big-league baseball and MGM Resorts comes only a month after MGM became the official sports betting partner of the National Hockey League. In late July, MGM Resorts International and the NBA also forged a sports betting partnership.
This according to a PR Newswire item Tuesday: “As an official sponsor of Major League Baseball, MGM Resorts will domestically promote its brand and gaming options across MLB’s digital and broadcast platforms, including MLB Network, MLB.com, the MLB At Bat app and additional fan engagement offerings to be jointly developed.”
Las Vegas-based marketing consultant Nehme Abouzeid said MGM Resorts is covering all the bases with another sports league deal.
“It has the critical mass of resorts and sportsbooks to make these broad-based deals with leagues both a branding play and an opportunity to drive direct revenue to the point of sale. Imagine instead of simply a corporate logo shown at a Washington Nationals game, fans could see an offer specifically geared to its MGM National Harbor property nearby,” Abouzeid said.
“And MGM will be front and center in the content created to support the growth if legalized sports betting as well as a stakeholder in game integrity,” said Abouzeid, former Vegas Golden Knights chief marketing officer. “They even get a chance to shine in MLB’s activations in Japan, which will help MGM’s development pipeline and international marketing efforts.”
Major League Baseball’s teams have strong regional ties to fans, but it’s nowhere near the national footprint of the National Football League, which can ask for and receive billion-dollar TV broadcast rights deals from multiple media companies.
MGM Resorts will be identified as an “MLB-Authorized Gaming Operator” and use MLB’s official statistics feed — though it will be on a non-exclusive basis, throughout its digital and live domestic sports gaming options.
MLB will also make enhanced statistics available to MGM on an exclusive basis. In addition, MGM Resorts and MLB will work together on what the PR Newswire release described as “comprehensive responsible gaming measures and work to protect the integrity of the game both on and off the field.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Here are some press release statements from MLB Commissioner Robert D. Manfred, Jr. and MGM Resorts International Chairman/CEO Jim Murren.
Manfred: “We are pleased to partner with MGM Resorts International, a clear industry leader in the sports gaming area, to work together on bringing innovative experiences to baseball fans and MGM customers . . . Our partnership with MGM will help us navigate this evolving space responsibly, and we look forward to the fan engagement opportunities ahead.”
And Murren on another “historic” sports partnership: “We are excited to enter into this historic partnership with MLB. We are thrilled to create a new one-of-a-kind fan experience for baseball fans . . . Combining MGM Resorts’ world class entertainment and technology with MLB data will continue to transform a rapidly changing industry. This partnership further amplifies the significance of our GVC JV, firmly establishing MGM Resorts and playMGM as the market leader in partnerships with major professional sports leagues.”
MGM Resorts is no stranger to baseball, with a naming rights deal for the ballpark of the Biloxi Bombers in Minor League Baseball and its Mandalay Bay casino-hotel hosting MLB’s winter meetings next month. MGM Resorts also owns the WNBA Las Vegas Aces and is lobbying the NBA for a professional team. MGM Resorts explained its bullish ways about sports in a presentation to analysts in May. MGM Resorts International is also the title sponsor of the annual NBA Summer League every July.
*
Follow LVSportsBiz.com on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Contact LVSportsBiz.com founder/writer Alan Snel at asnel@LVSportsBiz.com