The National Basketball Association has signed its second sports betting partnership with a gambling partner. After inking a deal with MGM Resorts in July this year, the league announced that it was making The Stars Group its “authorized gaming operator” through the Canadian-based company’s BetStars brand.
Under the terms of the deal, The Stars Group will buy the NBA’s official data to its games. It will also be allowed to employ team and league trademarks.
The NBA’s head of fantasy and gaming, Scott Kaufman-Ross noted that this was the second company with which it had completed a deal and which had seen the value of working together with the league. He said that The Stars Group understood that, besides the data, they also obtained the rights to the marks and logos on their platform, “which helps differentiate them from the offshore sites and others and leads to having a more authentic looking product.”
The Stars Group’s BetStars brand will be promoted on several NBA assets. The group said that the partnership “further enhances consumer confidence in our offering and acts as an official endorsement of our sportsbook offering here in the States.”
In the meantime, the NBA said that it continues to pursue an ‘integrity fee’ from all states that offer sports betting on its league. Kaufman-Ross said that the NBA hopes that states recognize the role that the league plays in legislation.