NASCAR and Gambling
When the federal ban on sports betting ended in May 2018, major sports leagues and organizations in the United States began to look at ways in which they could capitalize on this nascent market.
A NASCAR member, SpeedWay Motorsports Inc. is offering on-track gaming at its racetracks in states where it is legal. The company owns tracks in North Carolina, California, Georgia, Kentucky, Nevada, New Hampshire, Tennessee, and Texas.
There is a lottery element to this offering and SpeedWay is working with EquiLottery Games on this project. The first game is called Car Cash, which is a lottery draw game based on the results of a specific race.
In January, NASCAR issued its guidelines for drivers and sports betting.?The regulations forbid team members, staff members, and drivers from placing any best involving a NASCAR race.
They are also prohibited from giving confidential information to another party. Violations will result in a fine of as much as $200,000. Suspensions and even permanent bans may be imposed if the case is serious enough. NASCAR members are allowed to participate in fantasy sports if the prize is not greater than $250.
Increasing Exposure
NASCAR is looking at ways to get more people to watch their races because viewership numbers have been dropping in recent years. The organization sees sports betting as a possible way to attract a new audience.
New regulations?allow gambling sponsors in most forms. This means that all tracks and teams are allowed to accept sponsorships from sportsbooks and companies involved in sports betting.
NASCAR has deals with NBC Sports and Fox Sports. There may be issues with how gambling sponsors are dealt with during television coverage. Networks are careful about this because they do not want to open themselves up to potential legal action.
New Action Network Deal
NASCAR has entered into a partnership with the Action Network for sports betting content. This company is world-renowned for its sports betting analytics and insights.
NASCAR will present weekly analysis and content from the Action Network. This will include expert picks for the new NASCAR Props Challenge. This is a fantasy game involving prop bets for NASCAR races that began at the start of the 2019 season.
There will also be tips about results and value selections for races, as well as advice for those taking part in NASCAR fantasy competitions. NASCAR is the first sports organization to offer content from the Action Network.
The managing director for gaming at NASCAR, Scott Warfield, said about the partnership: “Sports betting presents a unique opportunity for NASCAR, so we want to immerse our fans in engaging and educational content around legalized gaming. We’re focused on strengthening NASCAR gaming content across platforms and The Action Network and its team of experts represent an integral part of our strategy.”
There are rumors of more significant partnerships in the works for NASCAR in the sports betting space.
They recently entered a major partnership with Genius Sports, which will create an official offering for NASCAR betting at sportsbooks.
Under this agreement, sportsbooks will gain access to NASCAR’s official data feed and a betting platform that works in real time will be created. In 2018, NASCAR singed a partnership with Sportradar to monitor sports betting for any signs of nefarious activity.