Washington NHL caps become first NHL team to sell advertising on jerseys, announce a partnership with Caesars Entertainment
The Washington NHL Caps are the first NHL team to sell advertising on its jerseys.
Washington announced a multi-year partnership with Caesars Entertainment that will place a Caesars Sportsbook logo on Capitals home. Third jerseys beginning in the 2022-23 season. It is a 3-x-3.5-inch patch positioned on the upper right chest area of the jersey.
The NHL allowed teams to begin selling ad space on jerseys during the summer. But they won’t begin showing up on uniforms until the 2022-23 season.
The Capitals are believed to be the first franchise in the four major U.S. sports leagues. NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL — to sell jersey sponsorship to a gambling venture. Major League Soccer incorporated sports gambling sponsors on its jerseys in 2019.
Uniform betting ads are common in overseas leagues, but that may change. In the UK’s more mature gambling market, regulators are looking for ways to reduce the presence of games of chance in sports. A review of the gambling laws by the UK Gambling Commission expected to publish later this year. They will reportedly include a ban on gambling ads on jerseys.
Nine out of 20 EPL teams have betting ads on the front of their shirts. 4,444 NHL teams limited to a single ad on their jerseys, in addition to one on the helmet, a program that began during the 2019-20 season. While teams prohibited from selling sports betting ads in the first two seasons of the helmet sponsorship program, the NHL said that gaming ads allowed on helmets and jerseys from the season. regulatory guidelines for jersey gambling ads. Advertisements only sold in markets where single match sports betting is legal and may not display on away kits.
“We don’t want this shirt to go to markets where it’s not legal,” NHL chief business officer and executive vice president Keith Wachtel told ESPN last month.
The jersey advertising patch extends a historic partnership between Caesars and the Capitals. Caesars Sportsbook at Capital One Arena opened in May 2021, becoming the first sports betting site to open in a professional sports facility in the US. The 18,000-square-foot, two-story site includes 17 gambling windows and 12 self-service kiosks.
The NHL aggressively closed deals with gambling companies after the US Supreme Court ruling overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act in 2019, leading to unprecedented levels of legalized sports betting across all countries
