A long-term agreement
Rush Street Interactive (RSI) has struck a sports betting operations partnership agreement with the Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment Company in Canton, Ohio. The online gambling operator announced the ten-year deal on Thursday and it aims to bring a retail sportsbook to the home of the professional football hall of fame, pending relevant licenses.
RSI will also get exposure to sponsorship opportunities through its agreement with the Hall of Fame Village (HOFV). This includes getting access to different forms of branding, signage, and media asset opportunities.
It has the biggest collection of pro football memorabilia in the world.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame is an attraction and museum that pays tribute to the best players, coaches, and other personnel from professional football over the years. It has the biggest collection of pro football memorabilia in the world. The 20,000 seat Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium, also part of the complex, hosts the Hall of Fame Game, the first NFL preseason game each season.
Bringing a new experience to the HOFV
There is construction work ongoing to add additional attractions to the HOFV, including a performance center, Hilton hotel, indoor water park, and a fan engagement zone. This is the second phase of the overall project, with the plans for phase three not currently decided. It appears that the retail sportsbook will be a part of the fan engagement zone, alongside the likes of restaurants and various retail stores.
Speaking about the striking of this partnership was RSI CEO Richard Schwartz. He said: “HOFV shares RSI’s drive to create fun, memorable experiences for customers as well as our passion for building a one-of-a-kind destination that will delight the millions of guests that will visit the Hall of Fame Village campus each year.”
RSI currently has real money gambling operations live in a dozen states. It is consistently the retail sports betting leader in highly-populated states like Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New York.
HOFV president and CEO Michael Crawford spoke about the opportunities born from legal sports betting in Ohio. He said that the HOFV chose RSI out of many retail sportsbook operators “because of its outstanding reputation, impressive sportsbook results in other markets, and the quality and experience of its team.”
Sports betting legalization in Ohio
The news of this partnership comes on the heels of Ohio Governor Mike DeWine putting pen to paper on legislation that legalizes sports betting in the state. The governor signed House Bill 29 on Wednesday, which will allow Ohioans to place bets on college sports, professional sports, and esports by the beginning of 2023 at the latest.
It will take a few months for officials to draw up the specific rules and regulations for the sector. The aim is for the Ohio Casino Control Commission to start accepting license applications from operators in the summer or fall of next year.
both online and retail sports betting will be legal allowed
Both online and retail sports betting will be allowed, with professional sports teams and sporting events being among those able to access licenses. A mature sports betting market in the state could be $3.35bn in size, according to an estimate from the Ohio Legislative Service Commission.