XLMedia eyes Ohio gains with Advance Local sports betting partnership

XLMedia has agreed its largest ever media partnership with Ohio-based news and information website Cleveland.com, ahead of the debut of sports betting in the Buckeye State later this year.

The deal, signed with Cleveland.com’s parent company Advance Local, makes XLMedia the exclusive provider of sports betting content for the site, which attracts an average of 9.9 million unique users every month.

“The deal provides cleveland.com advanced abilities to capture new revenue streams and is another proof point showcasing XLMedia’s strong capabilities to monetise highly engaged audiences via partnerships,” XLMedia said in a statement confirming the deal.

Under the terms of the agreement, XLMedia will provide content relating to leagues and sports including the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, UFC and NCAA. The affiliate will also manage commercial deals with regulated sportsbook operators as part of its standard affiliate operations.

XLMedia director of media partnerships Cody Darwick welcomed the deal as a “major step” in its efforts to forge sports betting geared partnerships with US media publishers.

“The timing couldn’t be more perfect ahead of Ohio’s anticipated statewide sports betting launch later this year,” he added.

Following passage of enabling legislation in December 2021, Ohio is set to begin mobile sports betting licensing in Q4 2022, with a view to launching no later than January 1.

“XLMedia’s expertise is an ideal fit for our business as Ohio prepares to embrace the new legalised online sports betting frontier,” Advance Local VP of sports betting and igaming Howard Kamen said.

“We were looking for the right partner to bolster cleveland.com’s award-winning sports betting coverage and found exactly that in XLMedia – a talented team of writers that will bring informative content to our audience along with a proven ability to create new revenue streams.” Kamen added.