Fanatics Betting and Gaming is set to bring suplexes and body slams to its online casino platforms. The move is yet another example of how online casinos for real money continue to evolve with pop culture integrations and exclusive branded content.
The gaming company reached a deal the WWE. The multi-year licensing agreement allows Fanatics to produce WWE-branded games for the Fanatics online casino platform.
The wrestling-themed offerings will be available in Michigan, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia by the end of July. As a result, games will launch before WWE’s SummerSlam event in early August at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.
The agreement builds on a previous business relationship between the two companies.
“We are excited to expand our relationship with WWE to now include an exclusive portfolio of WWE-themed online casino games,” Fanatics Betting Chief Business Officer Ari Borod said in a press release. “This is a natural extension of the WWE-Fanatics partnership which already includes global e-commerce, licensed merchandise, memorabilia, as well as producing and distributing a growing lineup of digital shows.”
Deal Furthers Growing Pop Culture Slot Trend
Fanatics Game Studios will produce the WWE-themed online casino games in partnership with Boom Entertainment and Games Global gaming developers.
The partnership comes as slot developers have embraced pop culture more in recent years. Developers spotlighted popular movies, television shows, rock bands, celebrities, and more.
Gaming operators have released games based on Ozzy Osbourne, Motley Crue, James Bond, Ghostbusters, Jurassic Park, Game of Thrones, The Dark Knight, and Squid Game.
However, Fanatics will have more than just WWE-themed slot machines. The company plans to roll out WWE Blackjack as one of their new games.
The WWE slot machines include Raw Multiplier Melee, SmackDown Big Money Entrance!, WWE Bonus Rumble Gold Blitz, and WWE Clash of the Wilds.
Aqua Caliente Casino slot performance manager Jaime Barriga said the games with pop culture references are more popular among players.
“The popularity with these types of games relies heavily on the familiarization factor,” Barriga told California’s Press-Enterprise. “When players know a slot machine is themed after a favorite television show, the sight, sounds and music in some cases bring that player closer to that game.”
The most successful of those may be the Wheel of Fortune line of slots. Based on the popular game show, these slots launched in 1996. Then, the machines became one of the most successful slot themes of all time.
The machines paid out nearly $3.6 billion in jackpots and creating more than 1,200 millionaires by 2024. In 2023, IGT extended its licensing agreement with Sony Pictures Television to continue producing the games through 2034.
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