Graphic: SportsBetReview

Ready or not, real time betting is coming to a hockey arena near you. And according to the NHL, it could happen sometime this season.

NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly told SBRPicks.com in an email Wednesday, that while this won’t happen on opening night of the 2019-20 season, we should still see this introduced in the NHL at some point in the upcoming season.

“Potentially at some point during the season, but not by opening night,” Daly said.

After developing a system to track in-game data by putting sensors on players and in hockey pucks the NHL plans to allow hockey fans and more specifically bettors to do all of the above at all NHL arenas in states and provinces where sports gambling is legal. T-Mobile Arena, the home fo the Vegas Golden Knights is scheduled to be the first arena where live betting kiosks will be available for fans and the hope is that other arenas will follow suit this upcoming season.

Washington Capitals owner Ted Leonsis has always been a strong proponent of sports gambling, as he details in this Washington Post video from October of last year:

Timeline To  A Wager

On May 14, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled to nullify the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, the federal law that prohibited sports gambling in all but a handful of areas.

On October 29th, 2018, the NHL named MGM Resorts the first official sports betting partner of the League.

In early November, 2018, the league entered into a partnership with FanDuel. The multi-year deal made FanDuel the official daily fantasy sports partner and an official sports betting partner for the professional hockey league via its FanDuel Sportsbook.

On December 18, 2018, the D.C. Council passed the Sports Wagering Lottery Amendment Act of 2018, which Mayor Muriel Bowser signed in January. The next month, the D.C. Council gave final approval to the bill fast-tracking sports betting.

In March of 2019, the NHL announced that they had brought sports book operator William Hill on board as an official sports betting partner of the NHL.

On March 27th of this year, Monumental Sports and Entertainment CEO Ted Leonsis confirmed that the Greene Turtle restaurant at Capital One Arena will become a sportsbook. Leonsis made the comments during the American Gaming Association’s Sports Betting Executive Summit at MGM National Harbor.

In July of 2019, Former American Gaming Association (AGA) executive Sara Slane announced that she will work as a consultant for the National Hockey League (NHL), advising its teams on sports betting strategies. Slane’s consulting company, Slane Advisory,  is based in Washington, D.C.

By Jon Sorensen