Prudential Center Teaming up with Online Gambling Firm

The group that owns the Prudential Center, the New Jersey Devils hockey team and the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers, has launched an “unprecedented” cross-promotion deal with a European online gaming company, Prudential’s management announced last week.

“We are proud to welcome partypoker to our family as we embark on an exciting journey with an innovative, global leader in the digital marketplace,” said Scott O’Neil, CEO of the 76ers, Devils and Prudential Center. “As an organization, we will continue to align with brands that aspire to grow with us, in true partnership.”

The deal follows the passage of a state law legalizing online gambling, the market for which Norbert Teufelberger, the CEO of the firm that owns partypoker, reckons to be in the tens of millions in the United States.

“We are excited to be working with the Devils and 76ers and to be able to offer their fans great digital content and unique game-day experiences,” said Teufelberger, who added that his firm has long had similar partnerships with European sports franchises.

O’Neil said the association with the Devils and the Sixers, two well-established sports teams, will help confer legitimacy on the fledgling American online gaming industry.

The new partnership will involve a number of marketing initiatives, including the “Dream Seat Series,” in which gamers who play on nj.partypoker.com will be able to enter drawings for ticket packages to concerts at Prudential as well as Devils and Sixers games. Those events include Jay Z’s Jan. 22 concert at the Rock.