American pro sports leagues "used to fight sports betting as an existential threat," but now they have "completely changed their tune to embrace the private deals offered via legalized sports gambling, both in young markets and prospective ones," according to Wayne Parry of the AP. A number of sports have "inked marketing deals with gambling companies to become official sports betting providers." Now, leagues and even individual teams "have employees whose main job is to seek out new business opportunities involving sport betting." For example, MLS is "considering putting the names of bookmakers on player jerseys." MLB Rangers Exec VP and Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer Joe Januszewski said baseball is a sport that has a "languid, unfolding pace," and with the "next set of fans, that may not speak to them." He said, "We look at the burgeoning gambling and betting space to make our game more engaging for a whole new audience. The expansion of betting is how baseball is going to evolve in the 21st century." NHL CRO Keith Wachtel said that is partly because "legalized sports betting is still relatively small." Wachtel: "Look five years down the road where projections are that 40 percent of the country will be able to bet on a mobile device. That's a scale we haven't been able to reach" (AP, 4/25).
