If you are a shareholder with William Hill, then the news that the bookmaking giant has agreed a deal with the US-based media company CBS Sports, which grants it access to display its betting content across all the platforms owned by the company, is big news.
Included in the deal is not just access to the CBS standard forms of broadcast, but it also includes the opportunity for William Hill to present its odds and other marketing on CBS Sports’ digital platforms, including its fantasy sports site CBS Sports Fantasy.
The deal, which saw William Hill shares rise by 4.8% in the hours after the agreement was announced, means that CBS will continue to use William Hills odds in its general presentation across its services, but it will also offer new content from William Hill, which will be designed and produced in-house from William Hill’s sportsbooks around the United States.
See also: Virtual Horse Racing 2020
It is thought that the initial processes of integrating William Hill’s odds and services across the CBS platform will begin in earnest in March, with completion in time for the start of the Fantasy Football Season later in the year.
“Unprecedented Reach”
Speaking about the agreement between the two giants, Executive Vice President and General Manager for CBS Sports Digital, Jeffrey Gerttula, remarked: “We’re thrilled to launch this momentous partnership, which will allow us to deepen our investment and further extend our leadership in delivering multiplatform sports wagering content while providing William Hill with unprecedented reach for their market-leading betting platform as they continue to grow their industry-leading US business.”
“The power of our distribution, combined with the strength of our brands and the expertise of William Hill, has us well-positioned to tap into the explosive growth of the legal sports betting industry in the US,” Gettula concluded.
With the sports betting situation across the United States as a whole in a state of flux, with many states now considering legalizing many forms betting and following the likes of Indiana, Pennsylvania and most famously New Jersey, the opportunities for expansion and growth across the country for William Hill is expansive.
It is also worth noting that in the US, many companies have viewed products, such as Virtual Sports as not being the same as sports betting, which means in some states Virtual Sport betting is legal, while real sports betting, is not.
Third Similar Deal In the Space of a Few Months
The deal between William Hill and CBS is the third such deal between two big companies in contrasting fields in the space of a few months. In May 2019, The Stars Group, who are responsible for sites like PokerStars and BetStars, announced it had signed a partnership with Fox Sports to produce Fox Bet, while a short time later Yahoo and BetMGM announced a similar deal, although this deal doesn’t seem to offer any deeper integration within Yahoo for BetMGM other than advertising the betting brand.
Speaking about the deal, William Hill’s U.S. CEO Joe Asher explained: “We are excited about this partnership, with assets including mass-reach digital content products, one of the largest fantasy sports databases and platforms in the world, and leading sports television programming, which will allows us to expand the William Hill brand across America quickly and efficiently.”
