MMA And Sports Betting: A Match Made In Heaven — And Las Vegas
At UFC 235 last weekend at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, veteran welterweight fighter Robbie Lawler nearly pounded former Olympic wrestler and 2/1 favorite Ben Askren to a first-round TKO success. But Askren, making his first UFC look, managed to endure Lawler’s early onslaught of head and body shots, and about two minutes later, at 3:20 in the first round, completed the comeback, ending it with a bulldog choke.
Respected referee Herb Dean saw Lawler’s arm dangle limp while he attempted to extricate himself in the choke, causing Dean to halt the struggle in what goes down as a submission win for Askren. While contentious and unfortunate for Lawler (along with his backers), it was clear, and also the popular Lawler quickly turned from aggrieved to praising Dean and expressing his comprehension (transcript here.)
The NFL is the king of U.S sports betting, but combined martial arts offers something different, in some ways much better and more exciting, and indeed controversial occasionally, same as each sport. Certain events, even to get a marginally market sport now in its very first year of a distribution deal on ESPN platforms, can generate the gambling handle seen in a good NFL game.
“Everyone knows a struggle”
Exposure to more mainstream audiences via ESPN and FOX Sports 1, through an earlier deal, proceeds to raise MMA’s profile. For for this point, UFC and other promotions such as Bellator have long embraced and understood the engagement value of sports gambling.
“The UFC was on the forefront of sport wagering content,” Jason Simbal, vice president of risk management for CG Technology, told Sports Handle. “They embraced it by including odds on the sites on telecasts. Along with the announcers will mention the gambling favorites during the conflicts. Also they have their personal produced gaming show which airs before every pay-per-view on UFC Fight Pass, which helps.”
The PGA Tour, National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, and National Hockey League alike have”evolved” since the Supreme Court struck down the 1992 national ban on full-fledged sports wagering out Nevada. Every one of the commissioners of these leagues currently tout the virtues of increased engagement courtesy sports wagering, fabricate new monetization opportunities, and delight in those that have come.
However, while every one of those leagues, especially MLB, seek to construct new sports gambling bridges using proprietary Statcast characters, as an example, there’s no learning curve to start gambling on combined martial arts.
“I think it comes down to it turned into a fight. And what I mean by that is that when you are managing a lot of other sports, you’re dealing with a lot of factors, the nuances of football, baseball, basketball,” veteran MMA writer-reporter Damon Martin told Sports Manage. “And there’s a guttural instinct in everybody when it comes down to it.
