How the XFL is going all-in on sports betting

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If you bet on any (or all) of the XFL's four games this past weekend, you weren't alone. And that's exactly what the league wants.

The XFL's relationship with sports gambling is clear and obvious to anyone who tuned into the weekend's broadcasts, which featured point spreads and betting totals right on the score graphic. During telecasts on ABC, ESPN, and Fox, announcers openly discussed in-game gambling implications - and that's long been taboo for live sports television.

The spotlight on gambling is part of the XFL's concerted effort to ingratiate itself with casual bettors more than its contemporaries after the federal ban on sports betting was lifted in May 2018. For a league with no established fan bases beyond geographical proximity, wagering is the way to consumers' hearts.

It's a big bet for the fledgling football league that was notorious for taking risks almost two decades ago. So far, this one is paying off.

"You've gotta know that the fan engagement is a much higher engagement if they have the ability to bet on it," said Jay Rood, Bet.Works' chief risk officer and theScore Bet's head trader. "When you have the ability to give viewers some ownership, some incentives to watch it, your interests align with the team's."

"In this day and age when you can leverage that, it’s a really smart thing to do," he added.

Focusing on betting has been a key mission for the XFL since announcing its foray into late winter and early spring football, a period on the calendar that's been a wasteland filled with failed attempts from alternative leagues since the original XFL in 2001.

Back then, sports gambling was still years away from permeating the public consciousness as it has in the last 21 months. This time around, gambling has become the new XFL's lifeblood.

Within the last week, the league has announced partnerships with DraftKings, FanDuel, and FOX Bet tied to betting and daily fantasy. On Friday, a day ahead of its debut, the XFL launched its own free-to-play mobile gaming app that rewards users with cash prizes for correctly guessing the final score of the league's matchups.

In December, the Los Angeles Wildcats hosted their inaugural minicamp at UNLV to generate league interest in Las Vegas. The team invited sportsbook operators to help familiarize them with how the league differs from the NFL, according to Wayne Perry of The Associated Press.

The XFL also met with gambling companies ahead of its launch to seek input about what those organizations would want from a football league, Perry reported. The league has struck deals with companies to distribute its data and monitor betting integrity, too. Contrast that with the NFL, which still hasn't brought in an official gambling partner and has long been adversarial in its relationship with sports betting.

"We are embracing the spread from the start," Jeffrey Pollack, the XFL's president and chief operating officer, told Perry. "This is a core business strategy for the XFL. We understand that for a lot of our fans, betting on the games has become as essential to the game experience as the helmet, ball, and jerseys."

If betting interest is a barometer for viability, the new XFL is off to a strong start. Rood said the handle for this weekend's games surprisingly resembled an average Mountain West contest during college football season. Opening weekend also outpaced the revenue from Week 1 of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), which started strong but dissolved before finishing its debut campaign in 2019.

Other books reported a drastic increase in the handle from the first week of the AAF to this past weekend's XFL debut, which was also a success by traditional consumer metrics.

The league generated more ticket-sales revenue before the year than the AAF did in its entire season, according to Darren Rovell of The Action Network. The XFL's television ratings from opening weekend also beat its counterpart from a year ago, according to Austin Karp of the Sports Business Journal.

With over three million people tuning into three of the league's four opening games, the XFL's focus on sports gambling was front and center for a sizable audience. It was a success for the league, and also for the ubiquity of sports betting.

"It'd be interesting to see how many people Googled 'XFL point spreads' (this weekend)," Rood said. "If that reaches a big enough number, that's going to draw the attention of officials in all the other primary leagues."

Other leagues are sure to keep an eye on the XFL, which is positioning itself as a litmus test for a sports league's integration and public embrace of betting. If the XFL's focus proves successful, other leagues might want to cash in too.

“They’ve already pretty much succumbed to the fact that sports gambling is going to be part of the landscape," Rood said of professional sports leagues. "So the more you can introduce it and embrace it and make it part of your broadcast and everything else, the better."

C Jackson Cowart is a betting writer for theScore. He's an award-winning journalist with stops at The Charlotte Observer, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The Times Herald-Record, and BetChicago. He's also a proud graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill, and his love of sweet tea is rivaled only by that of a juicy prop bet. Find him on Twitter @CJacksonCowart.