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 – at least for now – and a chance to take baby steps into a sports betting partnership that would have been almost scandalous only a few years ago.

Still Ryan McDonagh Jersey , 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, 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 Carl Soderberg Jersey , 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, 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 Brandon Montour Jersey Kids , 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.

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Tim Dahlberg is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at tdahlberg(at)ap.org or First-year Arizona Cardinals coach Steve Wilks has wanted players to separate themselves in the crowded competition at wide receiver.

Christian Kirk and Chad Williams seem to have done just that.

Both youngsters had impressive nights in the Cardinals' 20-15 preseason victory at New Orleans on Friday night.

Kirk, a second-round pick from Texas A&M, caught four passes for 49 yards, including a 13-yard dart in traffic from fellow rookie Josh Rosen for a touchdown. Williams, a third-round pick from Grambling State in 2017, caught three for 44 yards.

"Christian Kirk, Chad Williams, the way they performed. Tough catches, yardage after with Chad," Wilks said after the team returned to practice Sunday. "I thought those guys stepped up. I thought they created a little bit of separation. It's ongoing in that room so I'm looking for guys to continue to get better."

Kirk and Williams took advantage of the absence of wide receiver Brice Butler, out with a foot injury. Butler had been listed as the No. 2 receiver opposite Larry Fitzgerald on the depth chart but Wilks had declared the positon "pretty wide open" during training camp.

"With Brice being out, there's more opportunities to go out and show what we can do," Kirk said. "I'm really excited with how we played and looking forward to another good week of practice and getting out there in Dallas and do it again."

Kirk Jesper Bratt Jersey Kids , who grew up in suburban Phoenix as a Cardinals fan, made his presence felt the first time he touched the ball, returning a punt 38 yards in Arizona's first preseason game, a 24-17 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. He would have had a touchdown, most likely, had he not slipped making a move on the final would-be tackler, the punter.

Now he's trying to show that he's not just a specialist but a reliable big-play threat as a receiver.

"You've just got to learn week by week, whether it's the speed of the game, the playbook, I mean it all just comes more natural the more reps that you get," Kirk said. "You get used to the looks that you're seeing. It's getting a lot easier. I feel like I've made bounds and strides from when I first stepped in here."

Wide receiver is a big question mark for the Cardinals, with no truly proven players 鈥?except perhaps Butler 鈥?beyond Fitzgerald, who enters his 15th NFL season with career statistics among the greatest in the game's history.

So the showing of the youngsters was welcome news.

That might be particularly true of Williams, who struggled through a difficult rookie season, appearing in only six games with three catches for 31 yards.

Has the light come on?

"He's just such a competitor Calvin de Haan Jersey Kids ," Wilks said. "He understands exactly what he needs to do. He wasn't satisfied with some of the things that happened last year, the inconsistency, so I think he's ready to step up."

Williams said he's much more at ease.

"I feel like it's sunk in and I know the way of going about things," he said, "and it just comes natural now."

The Cardinals wrapped up their relatively brief training camp at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale on Wednesday. They will work out Monday, have Tuesday off, then practice Wednesday through Friday in preparation for their Sunday game at Dallas.

"This was always in the plans because really I wanted those guys to get acclimated to how we're going to do it during the year, to get away from the University of Phoenix Stadium and get back here and get down to the routine," Wilks aid. "Routine is so important to me."

Notes: Wilks said there will be no rush to get DT Robert Nkemdiche back after the former first-round draft pick left Friday night's game with a foot injury. "I really don't have a timetable on it right now," Wilks said. "Just taking to the trainers, we're just going to take it day to day and see how it goes."

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