The Denver Broncos will have a betting lounge in their stadium this season. Whether there are any fans inside it is a question that is much more complicated.
The Broncos and BetMGM forged a deal announced Tuesday that will make them the third and final sportsbook of the team. The team previously announced deals with BetFred and FanDuel, but BetMGM will actually have a physical space Empower Field at Mile High.
"MGM plays to hospitality, it's what they do really well," said Mac Freeman, the chief commercial officer for the Broncos. "So having a physical lounge makes a lot of sense."
The BetMGM Lounge will allow fans 21 years and older the access to a full service bar and lounge. The BetMGM Lounge will have no kiosks or counter service, as the key to having the space is to convert new users to download and use their app.
"We think fan engagement is an incredibly important part of going into a market where betting is newly legalized," said BetMGM's chief marketing officer Matt Prevost. "We'll be able to answer questions about our app and questions about betting in general."
BetMGM, run by ROAR Digital, a partnership between MGM and GVC, has seriously ramped up their investment in the space. On Wednesday, they announced another round of investment, bringing their total to $450 million, with $370 million in cash on hand to spend.
The battle over Colorado is very competitive, mostly because it's easy to enter the market, like New Jersey has been, and because the books are located in mountain towns, it's believed to be the market where the most mobile betting (90% of the handle and bets) will take place.
Freeman said the team is experienced converting things to digital, as the team weathered through changing ticketing to mobile tickets two years ago and suffered all the hurdles that went along with that transition.
"Older fans aren't as comfortable with digital, but it is certainly a very valuable slice of our audience," Freeman said.
Freeman said that as he looked across the landscape, he decided he didn't want to have a limitless amount of sportsbook partners. In that vein, he has guaranteed the partners that there will only be these three, excluding perhaps a small local deal or the chance for others to advertise on their local TV.
While BetMGM has rolled out slower than the daily fantasy turned sports betting incumbents DraftKings and FanDuel, Colorado is the first state they entered from Day 1.
"We believe there's tremendous trust in the MGM brand," Provost said. "We will be priced competitively and we have an association now with the best sports brand in the state. We also have a suite of assets in our resorts that give us the opportunity to offer real world experiences that others can't."
Part of the deal includes a free-to-play game built by MGM. Because of the state law, it cannot be attached to the sports betting app.
Freeman said part of the deal includes sharing some data information, but that he says public sharing like e-mail databases for mailing lists the two will be more careful with.
