NBC Sports partners with Gaming Society to increase visibility on women's sports betting

The GIST: NBC Sports is doubling down on women’s athletics. On Friday, the media company struck a content partnership with gamification company Gaming Society that’s centered on increasing the visibility of women’s sports and the wagers you can place on them.

The details: Gaming Society will partner with NBC’s women’s sports vertical On Her Turf and betting platform NBC Sports EDGE. Gaming Society’s talent will provide sports betting analysis on NBC Sports EDGE, while On Her Turf will serve as the exclusive distribution partner of Gaming Society’s See You in the Lobby WNBA podcast.

• Gaming Society and On Her Turf will also collab on digital editorial content on multiple platforms, including Gaming Society’s weekly Bet On Women newsletter. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The context: NBC is all in on sports betting. The media giant has deals with PointsBet and BetMGM, as well as an equity stake in the former. It inked a new $58M-a-year deal with PointsBet earlier this year that expanded the sportsbook’s integrations across NBC’s platforms, including national and local TV networks and streamer Peacock.

The trend: Sports betting’s U.S. rollout has largely excluded women’s sports, but Gaming Society and NBC Sports aren’t alone in trying to fill the gender gap. FanDuel became the WNBA’s official sportsbook last September and renewed with The GIST (it’s us!) the same month, while DraftKings invested in Just Women’s Sports in 2021. A wise wager.

Zooming out: Integrating betting into women’s sports coverage feels like a natural next step for media companies like NBC — it not only provides new content opportunities but also draws younger fans, who dominate the women’s sports audience. Liking the odds.