With sports betting becoming legal or more accessible in new states, there is little doubt that the 2021 football season will set a record for wagers placed. 

Bettors could place over $20 billion in football-related wagers this season, resulting in $1.5 billion in revenue for sportsbooks, according to industry analyst PlayUSA.

• PlayUSA projects at least $12 billion in NFL-related bets, excluding parlay bets, yielding at least $800 million in sportsbook revenue.
• It also predicts at least $8 billion in non-parlay college football bets, bringing $550 million to sportsbooks.
• The Fiesta Bowl and Guaranteed Rate Bowl are partnering with Caesars Entertainment this year as college football warms to sports betting. The NFL has deals with most major American sportsbooks.

Virginia and Michigan opened to sports betting in January, Arizona is expected to launch sports betting in September, and mobile betting kicks off in New York at the start of 2022.

Football betting could push major sportsbooks toward profitability. 

DraftKings lost $305.5 million in the second quarter, despite revenue nearly tripling year-over-year. Caesars’ sports betting and online gaming division lost $22 million in Q2. FanDuel parent Flutter Entertainment doesn’t expect its U.S. division to turn a profit until 2023.

Editor’s note: DraftKings is an FOS partner.

The NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars have been granted approval to build a $120 million football complex after the Jacksonville City Council agreed to pay costs up to $60 million. 

The project will be 127,000 square feet with training facilities for players, offices, practice fields, and grandstands for fans.

First unveiled by Jaguars owner Shad Khan in June, the complex received backing from Mayor Lenny Curry and was approved in a unanimous vote.

Construction is expected to begin at the end of the 2021 season, with a goal of opening before the 2023 season. 

Jacksonville’s new property follows the trend of enormous, state-of-the-art complexes in the NFL. 

• The Las Vegas Raiders opened a $75 million training facility last year.
• The Miami Dolphins revealed its $135 million practice facility last month.

Though the plan is for the city and the Jaguars to split costs, if the complex’s price tag exceeds $120 million, the team will come out of pocket for added expenses.

Arjuna Capital and advocacy group As You Sow have brought shareholder resolutions to companies that made public racial justice and diversity commitments last year, demanding they produce data on pay, hiring, retention, and promotion — broken down by race and gender.

Nike has been vocal in its support of Black Lives Matter, but according to As You Sow, is attempting to block a shareholder resolution requiring it to release demographic data.

The company has around 75,400 employees. It earned $44.5 billion in the fiscal year ending May 31, up 19% from the previous year.

The activist groups have sought similar data from numerous companies.

• Amazon shareholders blocked resolutions related to disclosing hiring and pay demographic data in May.
• In February, the SEC allowed Comcast to block a similar resolution brought by As You Sow without a vote.
• Foot Locker and Monster both agreed to release certain demographic data, prompting advocates to withdraw resolutions calling for disclosure.

Nike shareholders vote on a resolution calling on the company to release demographic data on Oct. 6. Earlier this month, the SEC rejected the company’s request to skip the vote.

Fox Sports and streaming service Tubi are launching “Sports on Tubi” in the U.S.

With 10 live channels and nearly 700 hours of on-demand programming, the hub will cover the NFL, MLB, NASCAR, CONCACAF, and the ACC, Big Ten, and Pac-12 conferences.

• Fox acquired Tubi last year in a $440 million deal.
• Uber Eats and Applebee’s will serve as launch partners for the service.

The move comes as sports fans increasingly turn to streaming. Two years ago, 52% of global sports fans planned to “cut the cord” by 2024. About 45% are already only paying for streaming services, according to a report by video platform Grabyo.

Amazon is paying $10 billion to stream “Thursday Night Football” on Prime Video for a decade; NBCU’s Peacock hit 54 million subscribers last month thanks to the Tokyo Olympics.

Grabyo’s head of content, Scott Lunn, says broadcasters who don’t turn to streaming will be left behind. “The likes of DAZN across Europe and ESPN+ in the U.S. prove that if you build it, they will come.“

“Sports on Tubi” will be a free, ad-supported service, unlike ESPN+, whose 14.9 million subscribers pay $6.99 per month.