How Online Betting Transformed Professional Fighting

Daily Fantasy Sports Giant DraftKings recently entered into a partnership with WWE and many sports fans aren’t surprised. The deal aims to popularize both brands around the world and won’t include an option for WWE fans to bet on fighting action.

Around the world, betting companies have become major sponsors for small and large franchises in football, soccer, basketball and baseball. Why are these companies so vested in sports? What are the benefits of betting sponsorships in the fighting industry?

Increasing Brand Awareness

The primary reason sportsbooks partner with sports brands is to create awareness about their websites and apps. In the case of DraftKings and WWE, both organizations have the same goal.

DraftKings want to reach a new market: the tens of millions of people who watch WWE fights every week. On the other hand, WWE hopes to draw the attention of DraftKings’ customers. Of course, DraftKings paid for this privilege.

In exchange, the DFS cum betting website will have its brand colors and logos displayed at major WWE events. What’s more, the WWE might allow the betting company to run ads during matches.

In a way, the WWE will partner DraftKings the way the UFC does. DraftKings shelled out $350 million to become the official gaming partner of the MMA organization. And get this: the main way the UFC will be promoting DraftKings is through a clock.

To expound more, the UFC now shows the remaining time before and during a match by including DraftKings. So now, UFC fans won’t just see 2:10 to the end of a round. They will see DraftKings 2:10.

Inspiring a Betting Culture

Before sponsors began to kick in, boxing, MMA and wrestling were relegated to the category of minor sports in many betting sites. In all fairness, most betting websites still prioritize football, basketball, hockey and soccer above fighting-related sports.

But when you think about it, these sponsorships have contributed to the growth of betting in the fighting community. Nowadays, you can find UFC and boxing betting tips nearly every weekend.

There are not many WWE and AEW betting tipsters. And that’s because an overwhelming majority of sportsbooks don’t allow betting on scripted events. Still, to be clear, you can bet on WWE matches at various betting websites.

What can you bet on in the fighting industry? First, there’s money line. This implies you place a bet supporting on fighter to win. Then there’s totals—you predict the number of rounds in a fighting match.

You could also wager on spreads, knockouts, decision-based outcomes and championship winners. And if you’re more adventurous, you can learn about the best online casino payment methods. Then you could deposit a small amount and playing casino fighting games like Rocky, Bruce Lee and the Mike Tyson knockout slot.

Injecting Millions of Dollars to the Sport

Soccer is the biggest beneficiary of sports betting sponsorships in the world. No sport comes close. In Europe, all the major leagues, from the English Premier League to Spain’s La Liga, top and small clubs don gambling logos on players’ jerseys.

In some leagues, over half of teams in a league have betting sponsorships. In turn, this results to hundreds of millions of dollars earned per year. In the fighting world, sponsorship dollars are increasing left, right and center. And they’re huge.

DraftKings and the UFC are excellent examples. DraftKings now has its name plastered in front of the UFC’s clock. In turn, Dana White and his associate are $350 millions richer.

The UFC aside, boxing is another sport made richer by sports betting partnerships. Unlike the UFC, where the organization keeps most of the money, boxers are allowed to participate in individual partnerships with brands.

An example is the partnership between DraftKings and Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. William Hill, Paddy Power and BetMGM have also made similar deals with boxers, and event organizers.

Lowering the Cost of Business

Another benefit of betting sponsorship is that they bring the cost of running fighting events down. In turn, this helps increase profits to event organizers, athletes and employees. The full extent of the impact betting has had on fighting organizations is tremendous.

Think about covering the costs of venues, programming, officials’ costs, catering, training, talent development and accommodation. Many athletes can’t afford these costs on their own. The same applies to sports brands.

They depend on sponsors to cover various costs. Even if a betting companies covers only a small amount of the costs, it goes a long way in keeping a sports franchise alive. It also helps the athletes focused on their main business—working towards achieving success.

Increasing Sales and Viewership

The ultimate goal of betting sponsorships isn’t to create awareness. DraftKings doesn’t spend millions of dollars to become famous only. It pays the humongous amounts of money to make more money in the long haul.

This explains why the average betting partnership is jam-packed with adverts. For example, a betting company expects to brand major fighting events with its logos and colors. What’s more, it expects events organizers to announce it ass the official betting partner.

In many cases, betting partnerships transcend events. Sportsbooks continue to advertise their betting markets on the social media pages of sports franchises. The explanation is that they want to maximize the partnership through sales and scoring new customers.

Developing Next-Generation Talents

As we mentioned earlier, one of the biggest benefits of betting partnerships is that they help running fighting events possible. Better yet, they make it easier for young athletes to develop their careers.

You see, buying the sports equipment needed, liaising with bigger organizations and training effectively costs lots of money. Most high school and college-going athletes can’t afford the costs.

Their schools might also lack the means to sponsor them. However, the money injected by betting companies provide the resources needed to turn upcoming athletes into the next-generation of legends.

That said, betting money also help develop coaches. In fighting, winning is heavily determined by coaches. However, there can’t be good coaches unless there’s money to develop and to pay coaches.