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All In On Buffalo Wild Wings Becoming A Sports Book

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ESPN - Wings. Beer. Sports. And bets? Buffalo Wild Wings is looking to get into the bookmaking game.

The popular sports bar chain, which operates in all 50 states and internationally, says it is exploring the newly expanded sports betting space in the U.S.

“As the largest sports bar in America, we believe Buffalo Wild Wings is uniquely positioned to leverage sports gaming to enhance the restaurant experience for our guests,” a Buffalo Wild Wings spokesperson said in a statement to ESPN. “We are actively exploring opportunities, including potential partners, as we evaluate the next steps for our brand.”

Licensing requirements to offer sports betting vary by state but likely would require Buffalo Wild Wings to partner with a current gaming operator. The company said it wouldn’t elaborate further on the issue for now.

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Everyone is running around wondering how legalized sports betting will change the games. Will we have to start worrying more about point shaving this, the integrity of the game that, think about the kids, blah blah blah. It’s all basically nonsense because sports betting has been around since the days of Adam and Eve (+240 to eat the apple, absolutely shocking upset) and if point shaving was an issue, it would be an issue now because Vegas currently exists.

But the thing people aren’t talking about is how many awesome sports books are going to pop up. And now we can talk about it, because BWW x Sports betting= sports paradise. I mean yeah it’s easy to laugh about BWW being a chain and this and that and your generic “sports guy” bar…but there’s a reason they are as successful as they are. Call me simple, but cheap yet delicious wings, beer towers, and 50 TVs is a place I can get down with. And now add in a sports book and I’m pretty sure that’s heaven on earth.

As I said, it’s going to be so fun to see who dives head first into sports betting. The partnerships are going to be a mixture of sensible and zany. I imagine the same way Saturday morning cartoons were once sponsored by cigarettes, we will have some weird sports betting crossovers. Maybe not quite the wild, wild west, but interesting to say the least.