NFL Betting Increases Ad Revenue, Football Gambling Will Rise In 2021

More people are betting on football, creating a financial windfall for the NFL and its partners. The league has lucrative agreements in place with several sportsbooks, and the increase in gambling is creating revenue for television networks that broadcast games.

CBS Sports generated $609 million in ad sales during the 2020 NFL regular season, according to Standard Media Index. It marked a double-digit, year-over-year increase in ad revenue, in large part because of advertising dollars being spent by gambling companies.

“The gaming category being introduced this year really acted as a catalyst for the marketplace,” Tony Taranto, senior VP of sports sales for CBS Sports, told Broadcasting + Cable. “It’s probably the most significant new category in a generation.”

Since 2015, gambling companies have become the NFL's largest new ad sales category. It was in that same year that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league opposed legalized sports gambling because of the “integrity of the game.”

The NFL quickly changed its stance after the Supreme Court opened the door for individual states to legalize sports gambling in 2018.

In April, the NFL announced partnerships with sportsbooks Caesars, DraftKings and FanDuel that will reportedly pay the league close to $1 billion in total over the course of five years. On Aug. 30, the league announced deals with FOX Bet, BetMGM, PointsBet and WynnBET.

A national survey from the American Gaming Association found that 45.2 million Americans plan to make bets during the 2021 NFL season. That number is up 36% from last season.

According to the AGA, nearly 22 million American adults plan to bet on the NFL casually with friends, up 31% from 2020.

Sports betting is legal in Washington, D.C., and 23 states for the start of the 2021 season. Eighteen states had legalized sports gambling in 2020.