Colleges partner with companies to promote sports gambling

In order to reap millions of dollars in fees, universities are partnering with betting companies to introduce their students and sports fans to online gambling, write Anna Betts, Andrew Little, Elizabeth Sander, Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly and Walt Bogdanich for The New York Times.

In September 2021, an official in Michigan State University’s athletic department sent an email to his boss with exciting news: An online betting company was willing to pay handsomely for the right to promote gambling at the university. “Alan, if we are willing to take an aggressive position, we have a US$1 M/year deal on the table with Caesars,” Paul Schager wrote to Alan Haller, the university’s athletic director.

The offer from Caesars Sportsbook turned out to be even bigger than that, according to emails obtained by The New York Times. In the end, the company proposed a deal worth US$8.4 million over five years. It was, a member of the negotiating team said in another email, “the largest sportsbook deal in college athletics”. Other schools, too, have struck deals to bring betting to campus. After Louisiana State University signed a similar deal in 2021 with Caesars, the university sent an email encouraging recipients – including some students who were under 21 and couldn’t legally gamble – to “place your first bet (and earn your first bonus)”.
Full report on The New York Times site