Detroit Tigers partner with PointsBet

Now that gambling on sports is becoming legal in many places, major sports leagues are realizing that they can add extra revenue on sports gaming.

The Detroit Tigers are the first MLB team that will partner with a major sportsbook when they announced a multiyear deal with PointsBet on Thursday.

When the 60-game season starts in late July, PointsBet signage will be displayed at Comerica Park. The sportsbook will also be featured on the Tiger Radio Network and on their streaming show “The Word on Woodard as well as The District Detroit app and MLB’s ballpark app.

"I view baseball as arguably the most disruptable sport when it comes to innovation around betting," Johnny Aitken, CEO of PointsBet, told ESPN. "I think there's a huge amount of innovation that can happen around baseball betting."

PointsBet started offering betting on individual at-bats throughout MLB games last season. Bettors could wager on whether a batter would strike out or hit a home run, among other options.

The Tigers are the first professional sports franchise in Michigan to partner with a sportsbook, but probably not the last. Legal sportsbooks have opened in 18 states and Washington D.C. since 2018. The Supreme Court struck down a federal statute that had restricted regulated sports betting to primarily Nevada. That’s when major sports leagues began developing relationships with the gambling industry.