On Sunday night, Caesars Sportsbook quietly started streaming an NFL game within its app, a potentially game-changing sports betting feature.
Sports data company Genius Sports and the NFL made a joint announcement Monday morning about the game stream of the Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys. As an NFL official sports betting partner, Caesars Sportsbook is the first operator to offer the new Watch and Bet stream for NFL betting.
“In our expanded agreement with the NFL and Caesars Entertainment, Genius Sports has created a unique solution that combines our exclusive official NFL data with live streaming content to deliver the most compelling sports betting experience available across the U.S.,” Genius Sports CEO Mark Locke said in the release.
“Accelerated by our long-term NFL partnership, Genius Sports continues to go from strength to strength as our innovative products enable our customers to grow their product offering and increase market share across North America.”
Dibs on NFL betting tool for Caesars Sportsbook
The integration of a low-latency stream to a sportsbook could help advance in-game betting, especially for the NFL, the main driver for US sportsbooks. Caesars becomes the first sportsbook to utilize the tool, which includes in-game betting opportunities and player props along the video stream.
“The addition of live Watch & Bet video streaming brings the best that the NFL has to offer right into the Caesars Sportsbook app,” Caesars Digital President Eric Hession said. “Delivering innovative technology like this remains a key emphasis for us, so being the first U.S. sportsbook to provide customers with in-app NFL live streaming isn’t something we take lightly.”
A release from Caesars said the agreement includes select regular and postseason games each week. The NFL also includes DraftKings Sportsbook and FanDuel Sportsbook among its “tri-exclusive” partners.
Genius pushing exclusive NFL deal
In April 2021, Genius secured exclusive rights to be the worldwide distributor of the NFL’s official league data. The partnership includes rights for Genius to stream video feeds to sportsbooks in international markets. The partnership recently expanded to include the US.
According to Genius, the product includes augmented live video betting products. Those offerings come from its machine learning, according to the release.
The Caesars stream was approximately a minute ahead of the Peacock stream of the official NBC broadcast, based on unofficial testing. CNET reported this year that Super Bowl streaming was approximately 40 seconds behind real-time action.
Future of sportsbook streaming
US sportsbooks have slowly increased their in-app streaming capabilities over the past couple of years. However, there have been limitations on sportsbooks, with options mostly including international leagues and sports.
Sportsbooks are bullish on in-play betting, assuming the operators and data providers can mitigate latency issues. Likewise, after years of shunning sports betting, leagues are now eager to embrace it for a boost in fan engagement.
“We’re excited to offer fans a new way to experience and engage with NFL content. Watch and Bet is an innovative step forward with our partnerships with Genius Sports and Caesars,” Brent Lawton, VP of NFL media strategy and business development. said.
The in-app integrations appear to be the way forward for in-play betting. Earlier this year FuboTV shuttered its sportsbook operations as its plan to sync betting into a single-stream via TV faltered.
