PointsBet extends media-led NBC deal for further two years
Operator relinquishes integration exclusivity over NBC Sports’ national media assets with more spent on geo-targeted assets in live betting states
PointsBet and NBC Sports, a division of NBCUniversal Media have amended their existing media services agreement and extended the pre-existing partnership by a further two years as part of a wholesale realignment of marketing assets.
The Australia-headquartered operator and the US broadcasting giant first agreed to collaborate in August 2020, with PointsBet utilizing key NBC Sports assets.
Under the amended agreement, committed marketing spend that had been allocated to between years three and five of the existing agreement will now be stretched to be spent between year three and year seven, reflecting the extension.
This change aims to significantly reduce average annual marketing spend to optimum investment levels while also augmenting PointsBet’s localized, targeted marketing strategy.
PointsBet has confirmed its total committed marketing spend for the remaining five years of the partnership to be $294m, with $25m of this figure being paid as at December 31, 2022.
In 2023, the firm will commit a total marketing spend of $50m, which is down 43% from the amount envisioned in the original unamended agreement.
“The NBCUniversal national media assets have successfully assisted PointsBet with establishing strong national brand recognition,” PointsBet said in a statement detailing the terms of the deal.
“However, in redefining the assets over which PointsBet enjoys exclusivity, PointsBet can execute on its locally focused advertising strategy, while the reduction in the annual committed marketing spend to NBCUniversal over the remaining five years of the agreement provides flexibility with the company’s overall US marketing budget,” the firm added.
PointsBet will maintain its preferred pricing benefits and exclusivity on integration in sports betting at a local and regional level, including across NBC’s regional sports networks.
In addition, PointsBet will also maintain its exclusivity on online casino integration with NBC at a local, regional, and national level.
For its part, PointsBet has given up its exclusivity over NBC’s national media assets when it comes to sports betting integrations, but the operator will retain a so-called ‘second look’ on all NBC assets.
NBCUniversal will be permitted to appoint one additional ‘official sports betting partner’ of NBC Sports.
As part of the amended agreement, the number of available assets in which PointsBet can invest this marketing money is expanded to include the Peacock streaming network, as well as sports programming on USA Network and CNBC Digital.
PointsBet is now also able to utilize Comcast’s EffecTV platform, which operates on TV, streaming, and video on demand, reaching an estimated 96 million US adults.
NBC was issued with a number of options as part of its initial agreement with PointsBet, however if not exercised by the firm (options worth A$105m) by the end of year five, the amount will be used to make increased payments for NBC Media Services across the final two years of the deal.
Should this arise, the total cash commitment over the remaining five years of the deal will increase to $270.4m, with the balance to be covered by the remaining value of the shares previously issued to NBC.
PointsBet managing director and group CEO Sam Swanell welcomed the revised deal, hailing NBC as a “wonderful partner” to work with since the inception of their agreement together.
“PointsBet has trialed and learned a lot since going live in the US market,” Swanell explained.
“We are thrilled to have agreed with NBCU mutually beneficial adjustments to our agreement that fit perfectly within our more targeted, localized strategy which is informed by those learnings.
“Put simply, we very firmly believe a dollar spent in marketing on any other platform does not go close to rivaling the terms and efficacy of the partnership we have with NBCU.
“We are fortunate to have access to unrivaled media properties via NBCU and they are an integral component of our overall strategy that is contributing to PointsBet’s strong US growth,” Swanell added.