NEW YORK, Oct. 29, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Hockey League (NHL) has formed a groundbreaking, multi-year strategic relationship in the sports betting category with MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM). The announcement naming MGM Resorts the NHL's first official sports betting partner was made today by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and MGM Resorts Chairman & CEO Jim Murren in New York City.
"The new sports betting landscape presents a unique opportunity for fan engagement utilizing technology and data that are exclusive to our League," said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. "As a leading global gaming operator and entertainment company, MGM Resorts is the perfect partner for us to begin our transformative entry into this space. Fan engagement, technological advancement and innovation are paramount to our progressive approach and will be at the forefront of everything we do."
As an official sports betting partner as well as an official resorts partner of the NHL, MGM Resorts will have the ability to market many of MGM Resorts' world-class products and services to the League's millions of fans via the League's various media platforms and events. MGM Resorts will also use official NHL branding to amplify the relationship across a range of the company's land-based and digital sports betting offerings within the United States.
"We couldn't be more excited to enter into this historic partnership with the NHL. The League is home to some of the most exciting action in sports, and we are thrilled to join with them to create new immersive and exhilarating experiences for hockey fans," said MGM Resorts Chairman & CEO Jim Murren. "Combining MGM Resorts' world-class sports betting operations and technology with the NHL's top-level competition, iconic brands and cutting-edge data will further transform the rapidly growing sports betting marketplace and solidify our position at the forefront of the industry."
As part of the relationship, MGM Resorts will receive access to previously unseen enhanced NHL proprietary game data that will be generated by the League's state-of-the-art tracking systems currently under development. Access to this data will allow MGM Resorts to provide its customers with specialized NHL game insights, as well as unlocking new and innovative interactive fan engagement and betting opportunities for its U.S. customers wherever legally available.
MGM Resorts will also reach NHL fans through communications to subscribers from the NHL's robust fan database that will market MGM Resorts' portfolio of destination resort brands, as well as promote MGM Resorts' M life Rewards program, which currently has 31 million members.
In addition, MGM Resorts will leverage promotional opportunities in connection with the NHL's calendar of marquee events -- including the Stanley Cup Playoffs and Stanley Cup Final, NHL All-Star Game, NHL Winter Classic and the NHL Stadium Series -- to showcase a variety of offerings across its portfolio.
For information regarding responsible gaming, visit https://www.mgmresorts.com/en/gamesense.html.
ABOUT MGM RESORTS INTERNATIONAL
MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM) is an S&P 500® global entertainment company with national and international locations featuring best-in-class hotels and casinos, state-of-the-art meetings and conference spaces, incredible live and theatrical entertainment experiences, and an extensive array of restaurant, nightlife and retail offerings. MGM Resorts creates immersive, iconic experiences through its suite of Las Vegas-inspired brands. The MGM Resorts portfolio encompasses 28 unique hotel offerings including some of the most recognizable resort brands in the industry. Expanding throughout the U.S. and around the world, the company in 2018 opened MGM Springfield in Massachusetts, MGM COTAI in Macau, and the first Bellagio-branded hotel in Shanghai. The 81,000 global employees of MGM Resorts are proud of their company for being recognized as one of FORTUNE® Magazine's World's Most Admired Companies®. For more information visit us at www.mgmresorts.com.
ABOUT THE NHL
The National Hockey League (NHL®), founded in 1917, consists of 31 Member Clubs, each reflecting the League's international makeup with players from more than 20 countries represented on team rosters, vying for the most cherished and historic trophy in professional sports – the Stanley Cup®. Every year, the NHL entertains more than 670 million fans in-arena and through its partners on national television and radio; more than 151 million followers - league, team and player accounts combined - across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and YouTube; and more than 100 million fans online at NHL.com. The League broadcasts games in more than 160 countries and territories through its rightsholders including NBC/NBCSN and the NHL Network in the U.S., Sportsnet and TVA in Canada, Viasat in the Nordic Region and CCTV and Tencent in China. The NHL reaches fans worldwide with games available online in every country including via its live and on-demand streaming service NHL.TV™. Fans are engaged across the League's digital assets on mobile devices via the free NHL® App; across nine social media platforms; on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio; and on NHL.com, available in eight languages and featuring unprecedented access to player and team statistics as well as every regular-season and playoff game box score dating back to the League's inception, powered by SAP. The NHL is committed to building healthy and vibrant communities through the sport of hockey by increasing youth participation and engagement; fostering positive family experiences; promoting inclusion, positive culture and leadership; and supporting sustainable community impact.
Statements in this release that are not historical facts are "forward-looking" statements and "safe harbor statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and/or uncertainties, including those described in MGM Resorts' public filings with the SEC. MGM Resorts has based forward-looking statements on management's current expectations and assumptions and not on historical facts. Examples of these statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the expected benefits to be achieved as a result of the partnership. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated in such forward-looking statements include effects of economic conditions and market conditions in the markets in which MGM Resorts operates and competition with other destination travel locations throughout the United States and the world, the design, timing and costs of expansion projects, risks relating to international operations, permits, licenses, financings, approvals and other contingencies in connection with growth in new or existing jurisdictions and additional risks and uncertainties described in MGM Resorts' Form 10-K, Form 10-Q and Form 8-K reports (including all amendments to those reports). In providing forward-looking statements, MGM Resorts is not undertaking any duty or obligation to update these statements publicly as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. If MGM Resorts updates one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that it will make additional updates with respect to those other forward-looking statements.
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SOURCE MGM Resorts International