You may have seen the name Tipico Sportsbook.
Even though it’s not yet live in Colorado, it’s still a name you remember. If you’re part of #GamblingTwitter, you’ve likely noticed the Tipico account is quite active.
In October, it was announced that it had reached a deal with Century Casinos in Central City to bring sports betting to Colorado.
Now Tipico is back in the news for a multi-year agreement with Gannett. Gannett is the publisher of USA Today and newspapers in 46 states, including six in Colorado. The major Gannett papers in Colorado are the Fort Collins Coloradoan and Pueblo Chieftain.
In terms of legal sports betting in Colorado, this deal won’t have much of an impact just based on the newspapers. But definitely expect heavy Colorado State University betting coverage in Fort Collins.
The Tipico and USA Today deal is also the latest to grab a board and ride the sportsbook partners with a media company wave. If it wasn’t clear before, this is definitely the trend in the sports betting industry.
What Colorado sports bettors can expect from this deal
As part of the deal that was announced on Tuesday and referenced in the press release:
- Integration of odds, props, free to play games and betting trends across the USA Today Network.
- The five-year agreement includes $90 million in media spend by Tipico together with performance incentives payable to Gannett for customer referrals.
- Additionally, Tipico will co-brand all NFL Wire Team sites and For The Win, including a re-launch of the Bets subsection to “Bet For The Win, powered by Tipico Sportsbook” and providing co- branded digital odds pages throughout the USA Today Network, in print and digital.
That last bullet point is where this deal could have the biggest impact for Tipico. In terms of Denver Broncos fan sites, Broncos Wire is one of the better ones out there right now. So for a betting on the Broncos perspective, that’s where Tipico could get a return on its investment … at least in Colorado.
The list of sites in the USA Today portfolio includes Golfweek and MMA Junkie.
As Stephen Krombolz, Tipico vice president of U.S. business development and strategy, said in the release:
“This historic agreement with Gannett will immediately bring additional credibility and trust to Tipico Sportsbook’s U.S. operations. These assets will serve as a key component of our North American marketing strategy, driving awareness of the Tipico brand. … (That will) ultimately delivering fantastic acquisition and retention opportunities as we prepare to scale rapidly in the U.S.”
Tipico expected to launch in Colorado this fall
As for when bettors and readers can expect product integrations, look for that to happen in August just in time for the start of the NFL season.
In terms of what those integrations will look like, the release said that they will be powered by Tipico Sportsbook’s betting odds on digital sites.
The other bit of news from this announcement is that Tipico will be live in Colorado this fall. No date has been set as of yet, but one would guess for that to happen before the start of the Broncos and NFL season. And as the release states, readers will experience a seamless integration to Tipico’s Sportsbook.
The sports betting app is currently live in New Jersey.
As Michael Reed, Gannett chairman and CEO, said in the release:
“Tipico adds incredible expertise from their European operations and next generation product capabilities. (That will) offer our sports enthusiasts and local consumers a way to become even more invested in the games and sports they care about.”
