As revenue goes it barely registers on the books. The NBA probably gets more from the contract with its frozen daiquiri vendor than it does the new deal it inked with casino giant MGM Resorts International.

With good reason. The deal announced with such fanfare Tuesday is arguably little more than a branding exercise 鈥?at least for now 鈥?and a chance to take baby steps into a sports betting partnership that would have been almost scandalous only a few years ago.

Still [url=www.bostonredsoxteamshop.com]Carlton Fisk Jersey[/url] , the NBA is now officially all in on sports betting. Other leagues will soon, undoubtedly, follow.

And sports may never be the same again.

Forget the image of a shadowy figure in a back room somewhere taking bets over the phone. Indeed, if the bookie you've used to make illegal bets over the years hasn't made plans yet to get into another profession, you might suggest that it's time.

Things figure to change in Las Vegas, too, if not all that much. Books in this gambling city have already expanded their offerings in recent years to include the in-game betting that the NBA believes will prove the need for its official data.

But the official seal of approval apparently means something, at least to MGM. So, too, might the official data the league provides at some point in the future.

And now that MGM has a deal with the NBA, surely the NFL and Major League Baseball are going to want in on the action.

Credit NBA commissioner Adam Silver for inking a deal he called "a leap of faith on both sides." Silver realized early on that legalized sports betting was an opportunity for the league, not something to fear.

And when his idea of an "integrity fee" paid to the leagues out of sports betting revenue failed to gain traction in the early adopting states, Silver pivoted to find another way to get a piece of what figures to be a huge revenue stream.

He quickly found the perfect partner in MGM [url=www.billscheapstore.com]Jeremy Kerley Jersey Bills[/url] , which might have some ulterior motives of its own. The company wants an NBA team for its new arena on the Las Vegas Strip, and there's no better way to curry favor with the NBA than ink a deal with the league.

According to Silver and MGM officials, the casino company is buying data. And the party line is that it's important, despite the fact Vegas bookies have prospered for decades without any need for official league statistics.

"I know the value of data," MGM chairman and CEO James Murren said at a New York press conference with Silver. "To be able to have the official NBA data for sports bettors around the world is very valuable. I was willing to, and I've paid for that."

The money MGM paid isn't much in the grand scheme of things, a few million a year over three years, according to reports. But if the NBA can convince other sports betting operations to sign up it could turn into a steady chunk of extra income for the league.

Not exactly the 1 percent of gross income the NBA was seeking from states considering legalizing sports betting, but that effort was going nowhere. In signing a deal to provide unspecified data to casinos, the league gets to profit from betting without getting hands terribly soiled with the actual messiness of it.

And new money is new money.

"This is a whole new world for us," Silver said.

It's hard to imagine that it was just a dozen or so years ago when the NFL refused to run an ad promoting Las Vegas on the Super Bowl, using the farcical argument that any association with gambling could ruin the league.

With the Supreme Court decision in May opening the door for legalized sports betting across the country, though [url=www.giantsauthorizedshops.com]Giants Saquon Barkley Jersey[/url] , all bets are off. Instead of treating sports books like threats, the leagues are looking at them to boost profits.

What they see should have been apparent years ago: Americans want to be able to place a wager or two on their favorite teams, and they don't feel there's anything immoral about it.

In a perfect world, the bookies would go at it alone. They wouldn't partner with the leagues that spent years trying to destroy them.

But for MGM, at least, it's a marriage of convenience. The casino giant is betting the NBA will help spread its brand, and maybe even pave the way for an NBA team in Las Vegas in the near future.

And that's a bet that just might pay off.
Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg@ap.org or ://timdahlberg

The son of a college football coach, Brian Gutekunst has an idea of the kind of scrutiny that he’ll receive as the new general manager of the Green Bay Packers.

Gutekunst watched his father, John Gutekunst, take heat during six-plus seasons at the University of Minnesota that ended in 1991. The new GM has heard the criticism that predecessor Ted Thompson took from some fans for a conservative approach to free agency.

The football lifer is ready for the pressure that comes with the job.

”My mom was reading in the paper some nice comments about me. I go, `Yeah, wait `til we lose,”’ the 44-year old Gutekunst joked this week.

His task is to build a roster that restores the Packers’ status as a Super Bowl contender following the team’s first losing season since 2008.

Promoted from player personnel director [url=www.officialsharks.com]Adidas Evander Kane Jersey[/url] , Gutekunst had a hand in helping Thompson shape the rosters for an organization that just had its streak of eight straight postseason appearances snapped. The Packers won the Super Bowl in the 2010 season during Thompson’s 13-year tenure.

Thompson moved to a senior adviser role in the front office two days after the season ended with a 35-11 loss at Detroit.

”I’ve grown up in football all my life and my dad went through some times at the University of Minnesota where it wasn’t very good and they weren’t saying very good things,” Gutekunst said. ”The one thing I learned about that, usually (for) the guy in the chair it’s not as hard to take. You worry about your family.”

Added Gutekunst: ”To me, for the guys who work here, you just expect it. … You have to keep moving forward.”

It is what Gutekunst has done in the game since playing college football for two seasons at Wisconsin-La Crosse. He served as an assistant coach for his final two seasons after a shoulder injury ended his playing career. Gutekunst coached the linebackers when La Crosse capped an undefeated season with the Division III national title in 1995.

That year, Gutekunst got his first taste of the pros after assisting in New Orleans Saints training camp in 1995. He was a summer scouting intern for Green Bay in 1997 and a scouting assistant for the Kansas City Chiefs the next year before returning to the Packers full time as a scout late in 1998.

Gutekunst didn’t follow his father’s advice to stay out of football entirely.

”I think looking back at it right now, the coaching business is so volatile, and moving your family every two to three years is a tough deal,” he said. ”We’ve had a lot of stability here, and I feel very thankful for that, for me and my family.”

The Packers plan to stick with a ”draft-and-develop” philosophy as the roster-building foundation, though Gutekunst has also indicated he might be more open to making additions through trades and free agency as well.

He is already starting to differentiate himself in another noticeable way.

The first transaction under the new regime was the signing of a relatively unknown running back, first-year player Joel Bouagnon out of Northern Illinois. The accompanying post on Twitter included a picture of a smiling Gutekunst next to Bouagnon.

Thompson was notoriously media-shy. Coach Mike McCarthy was often left with the task of answering questions about high-profile topics that might be more appropriate for a GM [url=www.seahawkscheapstore.com]D.J. Fluker Jersey Seahawks[/url] , such as when outspoken tight end Martellus Bennett was waived at midseason.

”I don’t think the new GM could do less than Ted did,” team president Mark Murphy joked last week. ”There (are) some positives that come from it, but obviously there’s some downsides … Ted saw some of the downside and decided not to be overly involved.”

According to Gutekunst, one of the first pieces of advice that Thompson offered after getting the job on Sunday was to smile more at his first press conference.

John Gutekunst told his son to be humble, and to make sure that he takes care of his staff.

”Now, you know, on Mondays after watching our game,” the younger Gutekunst said, ”he’ll tell me some other things.”

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