On Thursday, the Nashville Predators announced a partnership designating Bally’s as an Official Sports Betting Partner and the Official Free-to-Play Partner of the team and Bridgestone Arena.
The partnership runs through 2025 and will grant some of the team’s intellectual property rights to Bally’s, providing the gaming company with access to team logos, marks, and certain content rights. While pro sports team deals with gambling operators have become routine, in this case it’s the first for Bally’s with an NHL franchise and also its first with a professional sports team in Tennessee.
“From the moment sports betting launched in Tennessee, we’ve wanted to align with dynamic companies that will help us bring the best fans in sports even closer to the game we all love,” Predators Executive Vice President Chris Junghans said in a statement. “We’ve found just that with Bally’s Corporation. Bally’s unique approach to content integration and brand alignment through their broadcast partnerships is going to be a game-changer. We are excited to be one of the first teams to partner with Bally’s on this unique and exciting endeavor.”
Last December, the Predators announced a deal with DraftKings to become the team’s official fantasy sports provider.
Bally’s and free-to-play games
As the initial offering in this partnership, Bally’s soon plans to launch “Smashville Selector,” which it describes as an engaging, free-to-play game that offers fans the chance to compete for unique prizes.
Available as an app on Android and iOS, Smashville Selector challenges fans to correctly answer five predictive questions ahead of select Predators games. Prizes will be awarded to the top competitor after each game, with a grand prize distributed to the highest-scoring Predators fan at the end of the season.
“The Nashville Predators occupy a special place in sports fans’ hearts across Tennessee and their Bridgestone Arena provides a unique and electric atmosphere,” said Adi Dhandhania, chief operating officer of Bally Interactive, the company’s digital division. “It will be a great venue in which to market our brand, especially when combined with Predators game broadcasts on Bally Sports South.”
The 19 former FOX Sports regional networks were rebranded as Bally Sports earlier this year.
Smashville Selector is the latest offering in Bally’s line of mobile sports apps, following this summer’s release of the free-to-play Bally Sports Trivia and real-money sports betting app Bally Bet in Colorado and Iowa. The Bally Bet sportsbook app is expected to launch in Tennessee sometime in 2022.
Bally’s owns and manages 14 casinos across 10 states, as well as a horse racetrack in Colorado. It also owns Gamesys Group plc, a leading global, online gaming operator; Bally Interactive, a sports betting platform; Monkey Knife Fight, a daily fantasy sports site; SportCaller, a free-to-play game provider; and Telescope Inc., a provider of real-time fan engagement solutions.
Photo: Christopher Hanewinckel/USA TODAY
