Buffalo Wild Wings is joining forces with MGM Resorts International and its sports betting venture, Roar Digital, for a multi-year partnership. The partnership will deliver sports gaming experiences at a national scale inside Buffalo Wild Wings locations through MGM’s digital gaming platform, BetMGM. The program will give consumers exclusive perks, such as enhanced odds and free bets when the BetMGM app is accessed inside a Buffalo Wild Wings location.
“Our partnership with Buffalo Wild Wings is an important development in MGM and Roar’s position as the leader in sports entertainment and betting,” says MGM Resorts Chairman and CEO Jim Murren. “With more than 1,200 sports bars across the country, Buffalo Wild Wings is firmly established as a ‘go-to’ venue for sports viewing in all of its markets. Adding access to MGM’s world-class properties and the BetMGM mobile app will create unique customer experiences and redefine how fans enjoy sports.”
The first consumer-facing product to come from this partnership is Picks and Props, a free-to-play, mobile-only football game available nationwide when the pro football season kicks off. The game offers a seamless sports betting-like experience with no stakes attached. Players have the opportunity to win prizes like trips to Las Vegas to place a parlay bet for the Big Game or to Borgata in New Jersey to compete in the first BetMGM sports betting competition.
“As the largest sports bar in the country, Buffalo Wild Wings has the opportunity to pioneer sports gaming experiences for fans, and we are taking the first critical step on that journey through our partnership with BetMGM,” says Lyle Tick, President of Buffalo Wild Wings. “This is a landmark relationship between two preeminent experience brands that puts us in a position to innovate the current sports watching experience to bring the best of sports gaming to our guests.”
Buffalo Wild Wings and BetMGM aim to expand the program to additional states as legislation allows. The strategic alignment between these industry leaders focuses on capitalizing on future opportunities as states continue to pass sports betting legislation. Plans also include a sports betting test program in New Jersey later this year with the goal of expanding to additional states as legislation is passed.