Category Archives: NHL

Stanley Cup odds update: Lightning clear favorites

Now that the NHL‘s trade deadline has come and gone, teams know what rosters they will bring into the Stanley Cup playoffs – barring injury, of course.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Really no major changes on the odds to win the Stanley Cup following the deadline, and why should there have been? The Tampa Bay Lightning are lapping the rest of the field and could break the NHL single-season record for points, which is 132 by the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens. It’s not a matter of if the Lightning win the Presidents’ Trophy for the first time in franchise history, but when. Tampa was quiet at the deadline because it frankly didn’t need anything and is the +220 heavy favorite to win the second Stanley Cup in franchise history.

It’s almost not fair that the Lightning, red-hot Boston Bruins (+900) and Toronto Maple Leafs (+1000) are in the same Atlantic Division because they are likely the three best teams in the East, yet just one could reach the conference final thanks to the NHL’s playoff structure. The Leafs and Bruins are on a first-round collision course.

Sports gambling to provide a “windfall” to sports leagues

While many professional sports leagues initially scoffed at the idea of opening their doors, and fields, to sports gambling without some type of “integrity fee,” they have found other solutions that are proving to be just as lucrative. The National Football League, the National Basketball Association and the Champions League have already begun to make sponsorship deals that are seeing them take in a serious amount of cash. Another league, the National Hockey League (NHL), has been at the forefront of the deal-making and this is set to produce a significant windfall of income for the league.

The NHL has already partnered with several gambling-related entities. MGM Resorts is its “official sports wagering partner” and FanDuel is now its “official sports betting partner” as of this past Monday. Additional, the New Jersey Devils have a second sponsorship deal with FanDuel and the Vegas Golden Knights have teamed up with William Hill.

Luc Robitaille, the president of the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings, appeared recently on a ESPN ON ICE podcast and said, “If teams profit, then everybody will profit. If you go by the numbers on the illegal part, it’s pretty significant. If that part ends up on the team side, I think it’s going help everyone. First of all, the [salary] cap will go up. Fans will be happy. Teams will spend more money on players. Players’ salaries will go up.”

The increased revenue to the NHL, expected to be as much as $216 million, won’t just produce more profits and higher salaries; it will also lead to a better fan experience. Robitaille added, “You would think this would help with always putting the pressure on fans to keep paying … hockey is still a ticket business, primarily. Hopefully, that helps offset some of the ticket pricing. I’m not sure about it, but it could if the money is significant enough. There’s a lot that could go around it.”

NHL, FanDuel ink daily fantasy, sports betting partnerships

The National Hockey League (NHL) has signed a fantasy sports and sports betting partnership with Paddy Power Betfair’s FanDuel brand.

On Monday, the NHL announced a ‘multi-year’ deal that enshrines FanDuel as the league’s “exclusive official daily fantasy partner and official sports betting partner.” The lack of exclusivity on the sports betting side reflects the similar partnership the NHL signed with casino operator MGM Resorts last week.

The deal will allow FanDuel to offer DFS players exclusive NHL content and prizes, while also tailoring free-play single-game DFS contests for marquee NHL events. As for the real-money sports betting side, FanDuel will enjoy the “use of official category designations” intended to appeal to sports bettors in betting-friendly jurisdictions.

FanDuel also signed a separate sports betting deal with the New Jersey Devils, which has taken advantage of its state’s legal betting environment to secure gambling partnerships with William Hill and Caesars Entertainment. In addition to branding opportunities — including FanDuel’s logo embedded in the Devils’ ice surface — FanDuel plans to integrate its sports betting app with the team’s digital platforms to promote Live In-Play wagering to Devils fans.

American casinos looking for more business with NHL

The legalization of sports betting all across the United States could add $216 million to the annual revenue of the National Hockey League (NHL), according to the American Gaming Association (AGA).

In a Nielsen Sports study commissioned by the industry group, it was shown that $65 million of the projected revenue would come directly from spending of betting operators and data providers. Of this, $24 million will come from Major League TV advertising revenue from gambling services, $35 million from sponsorship revenue, and $6 million from Major League data and product revenue for third-party gambling services. $151 million is expected to come from increased consumption of NHL products.

“Today’s announcement reaffirms that legal, regulated sports betting will create significant new revenue opportunities for sports leagues,” AGA Senior Vice President of Public Affairs Sara Slane said.

Overall league revenue is expected to rise from $4.27 billion to $4.42 billion annually, a 3.5% increase, with the federal ban on sports betting lifted last May.

PlayAGS inks sponsorship deal with the Vegas Golden Knights

It’s only fitting that a professional hockey team based in Las Vegas be one of the first to go all out for the newly approved sports gambling industry in the US. Last week, the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights, announced that it had partnered with William Hill that would make the latter the team’s official sponsor and, now the team is mixing it up with electronic gaming machine supplier PlayAGS Incorporated.

PlayAGS announced that it has signed a corporate sponsorship deal with the franchise that will see the creation of a new “play of the game” feature. The feature will be integrated into the home games of the Golden Knights, which are played in the 17,500-seat T-Mobile Arena and will display key plays from the game.

The multi-year deal starts this month and is part of PlayAGS’s employee engagement and community outreach programs. The company will provide a title-night sponsor for each of the 41 home regular season games – as well as any post-season matches – in support of the NHL franchise’s promotion of ice hockey around the Las Vegas area.

The partnership will officially launch during the upcoming Global Gaming Expo, according to PlayAGS president and CEO David Lopez. The GGE will be held from October 9-11 at the Sands Expo and Convention Center. He added that the launch will showcase cheerleaders from the Golden Knights, as well as the team’s Gila monster mascot in conjunction with the debut of a new slot machine themed after the Golden Knights.

NHL franchise expects $5-million windfall from sports gambling

Being a team in the National Hockey League (NHL) that is located in a state where sports betting is legal has its advantages. The New Jersey (NJ) Devils anticipate picking up as much as $5 million through a series of partnerships that the team has planned. NJ is one of only a small handful of states that has legalized sports gambling since the US Supreme Court reversed the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), and one of only two that has major professional teams.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Devils President Hugh Weber said that his team, which calls Newark, NJ home, will earn that amount in the upcoming season after it entered into agreements with several area casinos and local sports books. Weber stated, “Being the only (NHL) team in New Jersey gives us a huge advantage.” He added, “We see sports betting as additive to the experience for our fans. There’s a lot on the horizon.”

The sports gambling industry is still extremely new – it is only now barely beginning to crawl. However, deals like that seen by the Devils will certainly be seen across all major sports leagues and will catch on fast. The anticipated demise of PASPA in the first quarter of this year had state legislators, sports executives and casino operators all anxiously waiting for the court’s decision in order to legally step into the sports gambling industry.

There have also been a few new combination of sports and gambling seen, although not of the same type as the Devils deals. In July, the NBA signed an agreement with MGM Resorts that would make the casino operator its official sports gambling partner and only last week the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys inked a deal that will see it become sponsored by Oklahoma’s WinStar World Casino & Resort. Coincidentally, sports gambling is still illegal in the Cowboys’ home state of Texas, as well as in Oklahoma.

Golden Knights partner with William Hill in NHL betting first

The Las Vegas Golden Knights have partnered with bookmakers William Hill in the National Hockey League’s first official sports betting sponsorship deal.

On Tuesday, the US division of UK-listed bookmakers William Hill and the NHL’s head office announced that the league’s Las Vegas franchise had inked a “landmark, multi-year partnership” that will see the partners “collaborate on engaging with fans of legal betting age” through a variety of media platforms.

While the financial terms weren’t disclosed, Hills will get visible signage at the Knights’ T-Mobile Arena, plus a “TV-visible dasherboard,” updated league-wide odds displayed on the arena’s scoreboard during intermission, an “away game watch party” and the proclamation of a “William Hill Line Change” on the arena’s LED ribbon board whenever the Knights head coach swaps his on-ice players.

Hills has an established presence in Nevada’s casino and mobile sportsbook market and Knights President Kerry Bubolz heralded this union of two ‘Vegas Born’ organizations. William Hill US CEO Joe Asher returned the compliment, saying his group was proud to partner with a team that had already proven itself part of the community following its arrival in 2017.

2018 Olympic Men’s Hockey odds and betting preview

It’s strange times at the Olympics — at least when it comes to the men’s hockey tournament. We have been spoiled by seeing the NHL players in the games for the last several editions of the Olympics, and we have seen some of the best hockey ever played on the planet as a result. The NHL got greedy and ridiculous, though, so they stayed home this time. And that means that we are left with a tournament of leftovers, spare parts, and old NHLers who can’t hack it anymore.

It still should be entertaining hockey, but it’s a bit of a handicapping nightmare. When the games were full of NHL players we knew who they were and how good they were, so we could handicap effectively. Now, though, we have less direct knowledge, and we must speculate far more. And speculate we will.

There are 12 teams in the tournament, but only six that are legitimate contenders. And all six are capable of winning if they get all the breaks. Here’s a look: 

OAR (+100): Canada has won the last two gold medals. Both times all 25 players on their roster played in the NHL, the best league in the world. This time, the team formerly known as Russia features all 25 players from the KHL — the best league in the world that is eligible to play in this tournament. This is the only team exclusively made of KHL players, so by logical extension it is the most talented team.

Stanley Cup odds: Vegas proving themselves as real deal on NHL futures

With nearly two-thirds of the NHL regular season over, the Vegas Golden Knights are legitimate contenders to win the Stanley Cup according to oddsmakers.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Currently sitting as the second choice to hoist the Cup at +650 (bet $100 to win $650), the Golden Knights head into Tuesday’s visit to the Pittsburgh Penguins with a double-digit points lead in the Pacific Division and the best record in the Western Conference.

Vegas is 3-1 on a six-game road trip that includes matchups with teams all in playoff contention. Meanwhile, two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh is starting to pick up steam and chasing the Washington Capitals for the lead in the Metropolitan Division. The Penguins are listed at +1200 to win their third Cup in a row and sixth overall along with the Capitals, Nashville Predators and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Lightning look like team to beat for Stanley Cup according to oddsmakers

The Tampa Bay Lightning (19-6-2) became the first NHL team to reach 40 points and currently lead the league in goal differential, earning the respect of oddsmakers who have them pegged as the +700 favorites to hoist the 2018 Stanley Cup.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

The Lightning sit atop the Atlantic Division standings and do not look like they will have much competition outside of the second-place Toronto Maple Leafs.

Toronto (18-10-1) is three points behind Tampa Bay but has also played two less games, and the Atlantic race appears a lot less challenging right now in the Eastern Conference than the Metropolitan, where seven of the eight teams have winning records. That said, the Maple Leafs are the second choice to win it all at +900.

MLB commish eyes joining Las Vegas expansion party

The decisions of NHL and NFL to set up shop in Las Vegas is changing the way Major League Baseball (MLB) views the Sin City’s ability to host professional sports teams.

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred was quoted by the Chicago Tribune saying that they “were looking at relocation, Las Vegas would be on the list.” And with the league’s two franchises, the Oakland A’s and the Tampa Bay Rays, scrambling to find financial backers for their new stadiums, the option of an MLB team relocating to the desert is on the table.

Las Vegas popped its major league sports cherry last year, when the NHL gave the green light to a Nevada city expansion in time for the 2017-18 season. NFL followed suit more than half a year later and approved—after much brouhaha—Oakland Raiders’ move to Las Vegas in 2019.

NHL and NFL’s decision to move into the gambling capital broke a barrier, and it’s one that other professional sports leagues are watching carefully.

NHL playoff betting: Tight lines for Tuesday’s three matchups

The defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins are trying to make quick work of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round of the NHL playoffs. The Penguins are listed near a pick’em to eliminate the Blue Jackets on Tuesday, as they hope to complete a four-game sweep of their first-round series in Columbus.

Odds courtesy of OddsShark.com

Pittsburgh’s 5-4 overtime victory in Game 3 on Sunday saw rookie Jake Guentzel tally a hat trick, including the game-winning goal at the 13:10 mark of the extra session. The Pens trailed 3-1 after the first period, but goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury was solid after that rough start to outplay counterpart Sergei Bobrovsky for the third straight time. The Blue Jackets have now lost seven of the past nine meetings with Pittsburgh.

The other two NHL playoff matchups continuing on Tuesday will also see the road teams attempt to take commanding 3-1 series leads back home for Game 5. Both also have similar NHL betting lines near a pick’em, with the Montreal Canadiens visiting the New York Rangers in the early game and the defending Western Conference champion San Jose Sharks hosting the upstart Edmonton Oilers in the late game.

NHL’s Las Vegas expansion has Canadian sports betting backer dropping the gloves

Las Vegas popped its major league sports cherry on Wednesday after the National Hockey League confirmed it would be expanding to the Nevada city in time for the 2017-18 season.

The NHL had only two contenders for its first expansion since the year 2000 – Vegas and Quebec City. The former city has been hungering for some major league attention for decades while the latter city has never really gotten over losing their Nordiques to Colorado in 1995.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said Vegas got the nod in part due to “fluctuation of the Canadian dollar,” the value of which had at times this year sunk as low as 68¢ on the US dollar. Since player salaries are paid in US dollars, Quebec’s Canuck-buck ticket prices would have to be set sky-high to balance the books.

Vegas had its own hurdles to clear, in particular, the belief that a pro sports team had no business playing in the only US state in which sports betting is legal because, er, well, it’s not quite clear why, since betting goes on everywhere regardless of its legality.

NHL’s Las Vegas expansion has Canadian sports betting backer dropping the gloves

Las Vegas popped its major league sports cherry on Wednesday after the National Hockey League confirmed it would be expanding to the Nevada city in time for the 2017-18 season.

The NHL had only two contenders for its first expansion since the year 2000 – Vegas and Quebec City. The former city has been hungering for some major league attention for decades while the latter city has never really gotten over losing their Nordiques to Colorado in 1995.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said Vegas got the nod in part due to “fluctuation of the Canadian dollar,” the value of which had at times this year sunk as low as 68¢ on the US dollar. Since player salaries are paid in US dollars, Quebec’s Canuck-buck ticket prices would have to be set sky-high to balance the books.

Vegas had its own hurdles to clear, in particular, the belief that a pro sports team had no business playing in the only US state in which sports betting is legal because, er, well, it’s not quite clear why, since betting goes on everywhere regardless of its legality.

The NHL Trade Deadline Will Move Stanley Cup Odds

This is a guest contribution by Jon Kuiperij of NHLtips.ca. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty; for submission details. Thank you.

NHL trade deadline day has become an unofficial national holiday in Canada.

It’s also become a big pissing match between the country’s two major sports networks, TSN and Sportsnet, both armed with panels of insiders who comically scramble to be the first to tweet out even the most insignificant of deals.

This year, TSN is airing a half-hour preview show Sunday, followed by nine hours of TradeCentre coverage on deadline day Monday. Sportsnet’s rebuttal is an 11-hour Hockey Central Trade Deadline show Monday that will only end when that night’s games begin.

The NHL Trade Deadline Will Move Stanley Cup Odds

This is a guest contribution by Jon Kuiperij of NHLtips.ca. If you would like to submit a contribution please contact Bill Beatty; for submission details. Thank you.

NHL trade deadline day has become an unofficial national holiday in Canada.

It’s also become a big pissing match between the country’s two major sports networks, TSN and Sportsnet, both armed with panels of insiders who comically scramble to be the first to tweet out even the most insignificant of deals.

This year, TSN is airing a half-hour preview show Sunday, followed by nine hours of TradeCentre coverage on deadline day Monday. Sportsnet’s rebuttal is an 11-hour Hockey Central Trade Deadline show Monday that will only end when that night’s games begin.

Decision on NHL expansion could be a couple of months away

If you’re one of the people asking, “What happened to the NHL’s expansion?” We might have an answer for you: Nothing yet.

The member of the National Hockey League executive committee met in New York on Wednesday to have an update on the expansion application review process. A source told the Review Journal that although both bids were discussed, no decision was made.

Lead investor in Las Vegas NHL franchise Bill Foley is not surprised and said that the final decision is still a couple of months away and he is patiently waiting for it.

“I think it will be March or April, and then we can start putting one foot in front of another,” Foley told LVRJ. I feel we’re in a very good position at this point. We’re respecting the process and hoping for a positive outcome.”

Decision on NHL expansion could be a couple of months away

If you’re one of the people asking, “What happened to the NHL’s expansion?” We might have an answer for you: Nothing yet.

The member of the National Hockey League executive committee met in New York on Wednesday to have an update on the expansion application review process. A source told the Review Journal that although both bids were discussed, no decision was made.

Lead investor in Las Vegas NHL franchise Bill Foley is not surprised and said that the final decision is still a couple of months away and he is patiently waiting for it.

“I think it will be March or April, and then we can start putting one foot in front of another,” Foley told LVRJ. I feel we’re in a very good position at this point. We’re respecting the process and hoping for a positive outcome.”

Report: US Attorney probing daily fantasy sports for illegal gambling violations

The US Attorney’s office in Tampa, Florida has reportedly convened a grand jury to investigate whether daily fantasy sports (DFS) operators are acting in violation of the Illegal Gambling Business Act (IGBA).

Gaming law attorney Daniel Wallach (@WALLACHLEGAL) broke the news late on Friday, the perfect capper to what is undeniably the single worst week in daily fantasy sports history. If you’ve just emerged from a coma and wondering why your favorite DFS operator is wearing tar and feathers, start here, then go here, here and here.

The IGBA defines an illegal gambling business as one that is operating in violation of a state law and Wallach has written extensively on the quirk in Florida law that could prove dangerous for DFS operators, who have long argued that their product isn’t gambling due to its reliance on skill.

Florida law prohibits wagering on “the result of any trial or contest of skill, speed or power or endurance of human or beast.” The prohibition applies equally to bettors and those who facilitate such wagers, including operators, financial institutions and those who “aid, assist or abet in any manner” this activity.

Vegas, Quebec City make expansion pitches to NHL

The NHL expansion process has reached its final and most crucial phase, in which hopefuls met face to face with the league’s executive committee to make their respective pitches.

Hours before the board of governors meeting in New York, Quebec City, represented by Quebecor president & CEO Pierre Dion and vice chairman Brian Mulroney, and Las Vegas, led by investor Bill Foley, made detailed presentations to NHL’s executive committee, which comprised of NHL executives and several team owners. The pitches boiled down to the specifics of each group’s business plans, from how they will pay the expected $500m expansion fee to the ways they’ll manage and exploit possible revenue streams.

Foley, in his presentation, pointed the fact that Las Vegas has secured almost 14,000 deposits on season tickets; it has a $375 million, state-of-the-art arena that is on target to be completed by mid-April and will seat 17,500 for hockey; and the city’s economy is healthy and ready to support the NHL.

Las Vegas has been shunned by major league sports in the past because of the pervasive presence of gambling in the city and concerns about the local economy, a transient population and an extremely competitive market for the entertainment dollar.