The new ruling goes into effect for the 2023 season and directly affects 17 NFL franchises in states with legalized sports betting.
Breaking: A measure concerning whether retail sportsbooks inside @NFL stadiums can remain open on #NFL gamedays received approval by owners Tues, an NFL spokesman told @sports_handle. The policy impacts the @Fanatics Sportsbook inside FedEx Field, the home of the Commanders pic.twitter.com/DfIMoI7rZG
— Matt Rybaltowski (@MattRybaltowski) March 28, 2023
Sports betting is now in 33 states and the District of Columbia. Currently all 32 NFL teams have either an affiliation with or applied for their own sports betting licenses but Fanatics Maryland is the only sportsbook company operating a sportsbook on the grounds of an NFL stadium.
New Income Streams for NFL Owners
Seventeen of the NFL’s 32 teams are directly affected by the ruling.
The NFL teams in legalized states with sports betting partnerships will keep up to $20 million of their gambling revenue and all proceeds from individual betting partnerships.
Anything above the $20 million will be shared with the other NFL 31 franchises.
Arizona Cardinals, New York Jets and Giants Affected
BetMGM Sportsbook partner Arizona Cardinals, WynnBet partner New York Jets and DraftKings partner New York Giants all operate sportsbooks outside their respective stadium grounds.
Still, some teams, like the Cleveland Browns, have applied for their own licenses.
About Fanatics in Maryland
Fanatics is a company that sells licensed sports merchandise, including apparel, collectibles, and accessories for various sports leagues such as NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL, and recently signed a 10-year deal with the NHL to supply their jerseys to become their official merchandiser.
Fanatics is partnered with the Washington Commanders and is the only licensed operator currently running a brick-and-mortar-only shop at FedEx Field in Landover Maryland.
No word yet on when the sportsbook will accept wagers from its app (The app is called Fanatics) but the news that they can remain open during game days is surely an encouraging sign for the sports branding giant new to the sports betting industry.
Fanatics Maryland opened on January 20th and is currently operating in the red. Fanatics sports betting handled $658,953 in February but paid out more than it took in for net revenue of -$142,666.
Bids come for Commanders’ ownership
On the same day as the vote, two separate groups submitted fully funded proposals to purchase the Commanders from majority owner Daniel Snyder.
The first bid, led by Josh Harris and Mitchell Rales, has reportedly met Snyder’s asking price of $6 billion. The second bid, also for $6 billion and fully funded, was submitted by Canadian billionaire Steve Apostolopoulos, a managing partner of the Toronto-based real estate firm Triple Group of Companies.
Snyder was initially reluctant to sell the franchise, but it was not due to a lack of potential profit. Both bids under consideration are significantly higher than the $800 million he originally paid for the team 24 years ago, representing an increase of 7.5 times the purchase price.
Even if Snyder agrees to sell the Commanders, the sale will need the approval of 75 percent of NFL owners before it can be completed. If Snyder comes to an agreement with either party soon, it will take about two months for the league to ratify the sale, which means that a new ownership group could take over around the time of the NFL training camp.
Whether Snyder will accept either offer remains to be seen. Still, the bids demonstrate a strong interest in owning an NFL franchise, particularly one in the nation’s capital and with an in-stadium sportsbook.
