-
By Torrey Hart
The University of Colorado’s deal with betting operator PointsBet is worth over $1.625 million, according to Sports Illustrated, which obtained a copy of the contract.
The deal, believed to be the first of its kind in major college athletics, was announced in September.
PointsBet will pay Colorado quarterly, with the amounts increasing each year. Yearly totals are $305,000 in 2021, $315,000 in 2022, $325,000 in 2023, $335,000 in 2024 and $345,000 in 2025. The university will additionally receive $30 per customer referred with a promo code to PointsBet.
On PointsBet’s end of the deal, the company gets advertisements at Colorado sporting events — including at Folsom Field, and on broadcasts. According to the contract, each regular season CU football radio broadcast must include one pregame segment featuring PointsBet, a 10-second “live mention” during the game and three 30-second in-game commercials. Thirty-second advertising spots in the postseason will cost PointsBet an additional $600.
During every home game, the football stadium must include “PointsBet logo recognition” on both video boards, one in-game public address announcement about the company, four minutes of PointsBet “exposure” on ribbon boards and end zone LED screens, a permanent field level sign that must “receive TV visibility.”
PointsBet will also get a minimum of five “home-page takeovers.”
The original announcement said that the deal included support for the school’s Scripps Leadership and Career Development Program and a recruitment pipeline for jobs. The contract states that PointsBet will create a student fund of $75,000 per year to go “directly to supporting the development of CU student athletes and PointsBet recruitment,” including promoting internships and jobs.
Colorado will also give PointsBet a $25,000 “hospitality bank” to redeem tickets to sporting events, autographed items and “VIP experiences,” according to the contract.
Sports betting became legal in Colorado as of May 1, so long as bettors place their wagers with a licensed operator in the state, but the NCAA has a ban on wagering among college sports personnel including athletes, coaches and administrators. Sponsorship deals between operator William Hill and schools in Nevada have existed since 2017.
