What A TD Garden Sports Betting Experience Could Look Like

It’s not unheard of for a professional sports stadium to feature in-house sportsbooks. With more states legalizing the industry and different locations seeing the value in sportsbook partnerships, it’s becoming a growing trend.

And there’s a chance that Massachusetts is one of the next states to follow this trend. Specifically, the TD Garden could be a prime location for a sportsbook, considering both Celtics and Bruins fans both call it home.

Interest around the subject is on the rise now that Massachusetts online sports betting launched last month. Let’s take a deeper look into what sportsbook could be a fit and what a retail sportsbook inside the Garden would look like.

FanDuel already inked partnership with Bruins

As more professional sports venues move toward housing retail sportsbooks, the TD Garden could be next in line. In fact, the downtown Boston venue already has a FanDuel presence thanks to the Boston Bruins

On March 10, the same day that Massachusetts officially legalized mobile sports wagering, FanDuel Massachusetts announced a multi-year partnership with the Boston Bruins. Talk about not wasting any time.

The agreement named FanDuel as the hockey team’s official sports betting partner.

The partnership allowed for FanDuel’s image and branding to appear throughout TD Garden. In addition, FanDuel branding is frequently found on much of the team’s social media content.

Different partners for NBA and NHL

The TD Garden is home to both the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins. The NHL and NBA have their own sports betting partners, and it’s worth noting that FanDuel is one of them.

Last April, the NHL announced multi-year sponsorship deals with both FanDuel and BetMGM. The deal marked the first North American sports betting partnership for the league.

Additionally, the NBA named FanDuel and DraftKings as its co-official sports betting partners in late 2021.

“DraftKings and FanDuel sit at the center of the continued convergence between media and sports betting, and, together, we are excited to bring these unique content experiences to our fans,” NBA Senior VP, Head of Gaming & New Business Ventures, Scott Kaufman-Ross said at the time.

No sports betting partner for Celtics…yet

Take one look at the social media feeds of the Boston Celtics, and you will see a lot of DraftKings Massachusetts content.

While DraftKings isn’t Boston’s official sportsbook (there isn’t one at this time), the organization is the team’s official daily fantasy sports partner. DraftKings sponsors the Celtics’ starting lineups and often hosts watch parties during games. The two entities entered a multi-year partnership in early 2020.

Tonight’s Starting 5️⃣@DraftKings pic.twitter.com/NScZ6oUIpc

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 4, 2023

According to a press release of the partnership, DraftKings is a sponsor from a fantasy sports standpoint — not sports gambling.

“Daily fantasy sports players are amongst the most highly engaged NBA fans,” Celtics Team President Rich Gotham said in a release. “We’re happy to collaborate with our hometown partner, DraftKings, to serve Celtics fans through a variety of group activations and game day elements, including the presentation of our starting lineup across social channels.”

Additionally, when DraftKings announced its partnership with the Celtics back in February of 2020, it also partnered with the Philadelphia 76ers and Indiana Pacers. For the other two Eastern Conference foes, the DraftKings partnership was much more focused on gambling.

Given DraftKings’ history with both the Pacers and 76ers, a Celtics’ sportsbook or official sports betting partnership announcement would make sense.

Who could be TD Garden’s in-house sportsbook operator?

Factoring in the existing sponsorships, both at the team and league levels, FanDuel seems to be the most likely option for a retail sportsbook at TD Garden.

While the Celtics have ties to DraftKings, the NBA, NHL and Bruins all have connections to FanDuel.

It’s unclear just how long the Celtics’ deal with DraftKings is, but in theory, a switch to FanDuel wouldn’t be that difficult. Especially considering the sportsbook boasts ties to the league.

FanDuel also makes sense given the fact that it is the top dog nationally. In late 2022, state gaming regulator reports showed that FanDuel’s market share came out to about 42% nationally.

What would a TD Garden sportsbook look like?

Each individual retail sportsbook (even under the same brand) will look a bit different.

In Chicago, there’s a FanDuel Sportsbook located inside the United Center, home of both the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks.

The FanDuel Lounge inside the United Center encompasses 1,300 square feet and is filled with plenty of LED screens featuring just about every game. There’s plenty of food options as well, ranging from a smoked gouda bacon dip to wagyu hot dogs. Not to mention the various cocktails, too.

In partnership with @FanDuel, we’re planning to open a state-of-the-art, two-story Sportsbook lounge here to bring the excitement of sports wagering inside the United Center!

For details, visit: https://t.co/YzX3kWvqtd pic.twitter.com/QRmnAt1ts7

— United Center (@UnitedCenter) January 31, 2022

Other sports franchises across the country also have retail sportsbooks at their venues.

The Cleveland Cavaliers, Phoenix Suns, Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals all have sportsbooks inside their respective home venues.

RELATED: Which Sportsbooks Are Partnered With Massachusetts Teams? Who Is Left?

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