Tipico is the latest sports betting operator to sign on with a college outfit, despite heightened attention from federal and state officials to campus affiliation.
Tipico will be the official sports betting partner of the 2023 MAAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships, the company announced Tuesday. As part of the partnership, the sportsbook’s sign-up codes will be plastered around Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ, the tournament host site.
Unfortunately for Tipico, no one in attendance will be able to bet on games, as New Jersey prohibits sports betting on all collegiate events held in-state.
College sports betting attention from lawmakers, regulators
The news comes as regulators in New York, home of half the participating schools, are putting together proposed rules to ban sports wagering promotions and advertisements from all state university-owned assets.
In Maryland, the home state of No. 8 women’s seed Mount St. Mary’s, lawmakers are considering a bill that would ban all colleges from profiting from account signups and require full disclosure of all college sports betting partnerships.
US Sen. Richard Blumenthal recently called college sports betting partnerships “detrimental” to students who largely are under the typical legal gambling age of 21.
“Allowing gambling companies to continue enticing universities with partnership deals will sacrifice student health,” Blumenthal said in a letter regarding Michigan State and LSU‘s partnerships with Caesars. He wrote a similar letter to PointsBet, addressing its partnerships with the University of Maryland and the University of Colorado.
Details of Tipico deal
As part of the deal, Tipico is sponsoring a half-court shot contest for one fan each in attendance at the Women’s Championship and Men’s Championship games on March 11.
Attendees who sign up for the app at the game will earn deposit-match bets and gain access to Tipico’s VIP lounge area at the arena.
The Tipico sportsbook app is available in Colorado, Iowa, Ohio and New Jersey, with plans to come to Massachusetts, according to Tipico’s website.
What they said about college sports betting agreement
David Paschkes, Chief Commercial Officer at Tipico, said in a statement:
“We are thrilled to become the official sports betting app partner of such a prestigious championship that produced one of the greatest Cinderella stories in college basketball history just one year ago. Taking the game-watching experience to the next level during this championship which leads into one of the most exciting times of year, March Madness, is our way of showing how dedicated we are to the fans.
“Basketball is one of the top sports to bet on, with March Madness seeing 30% more money wagered on it than the Super Bowl across the industry.”
Paschkes references the March Madness run of St. Peter’s to last year’s Elite Eight.
