New sponsorship opportunity

The Arizona Cardinals team are partnering up with Gila River Hotels and Casinos as their official casino and hotel partner, strengthening a relationship that has been in place for the past 15 years.

As part of the new agreement, there will be many contests held, as well as hotel rooms, sporting Cardinals themes. Throughout the NFL season, the three hotels in the Gila River chain, which are located in the Phoenix area, will run different types of promotions.

strengthening a relationship that has been in place for the past 15 years

The Gila River Indian Community-owned properties will also be able to broadcast each of the NFL team’s games during the season.?The hotel and casino group already has a similar partnership in place with the Arizona Diamondbacks MLB team.?

Close community links

According to the CEO of Gila River Hotels and Casinos, Kenneth Manuel, there is a tight-knit relationship between the community members and the Arizona Cardinals.

He spoke about their support each year at the home games, saying there are always “more than 300 Gila River Indian Community member fans in attendance” He added that

it has been an honor to present our nation’s colors before each of those games.”

Sports betting in Arizona

Arizona does not yet have legal sports betting. There was some hope at the start of 2019 that a bill could be pushed through, but this did not come to fruition. Senate Bill 1158 was proposed in January and has been in committee ever since. 

As there are no commercial casinos in Arizona, legal sportsbooks would likely be exclusively offered at the tribal facilities in the state. Whatever the case may be, any such legalization bill will have tribal exclusivity and rights at the forefront of its proposal. 

More teams getting casino partners

In September 2018, the NFL made it allowable for teams to obtain official casino sponsors once they are not promoting sportsbooks. Since then, a number of sides have jumped at the opportunity. 

Shortly after, the Dallas Cowboys were quick to announce a partnership with the WinStar World Casino Resort in nearby Oklahoma. More recently, the Baltimore Ravens signed a deal with Baltimore’s Horseshoe Casino, while the Green Bay Packers obtained a sponsorship from the Oneida Nation tribe of Wisconsin. 

The soon-to-be Las Vegas Raiders have entered a 15-year partnership with Caesars Entertainment, and Buffalo Bills struck a deal with Seneca Resorts and Casinos.