Jerry Jones will be helping the one-armed bandit pick his customers’ pockets.
Via the Dallas Morning News, the Cowboys have done a sponsorship deal with Aristocrat Gaming. (I thought about including an Easter-egg video link in the word “Aristocrat” to a Bob Saget bit from YouTube, but it really is horrifying and revolting, even if that was the point.) The slot-machine company will have promotional materials throughout AT&T Stadium, and it will show in-game ads on the Jumbotron during Cowboys games.
While slot machines aren’t legal in Texas, the goal will be to get fans to make the short trip to Oklahoma, where NFL-themed slot machines are waiting to take their money.
“From a business perspective, the Cowboys’ proximity to Oklahoma is really important to us,” Aristocrat (I thought about it again) chief marketing officer Mark Wadley said. “A lot of the fanbase that goes up to WinStar and other casinos in Oklahoma come from Dallas. So the opportunity to communicate with them as they are making their trip to those casinos is really important for us.”
Aristocrat has partnered with a family of four teams: the Cowboys, Raiders, Patriots, and Saints.
It’s believed, as explained in the Morning News article, that Texans spend roughly $5 billion per year on gambling in neighboring states, along with $8 billion on illegal gambling in Texas.
Amazingly, Texas can’t find a way to legalize gambling and take a major cut of the money that casinos and sports books inevitably win from the suckers who are born every time a slot machine flashes, “Try again.”