Do Live Casino Game Providers See Potential in American Football Themes?

Then that whole PASPA thing was overturned opening the floodgates to legalized sports betting and online casino gaming. Fast-forward to 2025 and the NFL has cozied up to the big sports betting operators. It has also made an impact on online casino gaming.

Now that the NFL has officially changed course and sold out, we are seeing more and more NFL-themed casino games being launched at online casinos. Aristocrat Gaming recently launched its line of NFL slots that players can customize to their favorite NFL teams. One Michigan-based platform released a couple of Detroit Lions-themed games. Detroit Lions Blackjack and Detroit Lions Roulette have become quite popular. It seems like it’s just a matter of time before gambling sites at Legalcasino.uk all have a selection of NFL-themed casino games.

Live NFL-Themed Games?

Football Studio by Evolution Gaming was released in 2016. The thing is, the game relates to European football and can be adapted for several European football leagues. Would Evolution be able to adapt the game to suit NFL fans? Sure, but it isn’t likely as doing so would completely change how Football Studio looks. Thankfully, Evolution went another direction when they started producing NFL-themed live dealer games.

Pittsburgh Steelers Blackjack Live

In November 2020, a partnership between the Pittsburgh Steelers, Evolution Gaming, and BetMGM resulted in the release of Pittsburgh Steelers Blackjack. It is a live dealer blackjack game with a playing surface that is modeled after Heinz Field. The rules of the game are pretty straightforward.

For those unfamiliar with blackjack, the object of the game is to beat the dealer’s hand by having your hand total equal 21 or as close to 21 as you can without going over. In Pittsburgh Steelers Blackjack, having 21 earns a payout of 3 to 2. So, if you bet $10 and hit blackjack, you’d receive your $10 back plus $15 for a total return of $25. While blackjack doesn’t pay the traditional 2 to 1, the dealer must hit on any 17.

Pittsburgh Steelers Blackjack offers two side bets which are Any Pair and 21+3 which can pay up to 100 to 1 for a suited three-of-a-kind. You also have all of the other standard options like splitting and doubling down.

While this might seem like just another of many live dealer blackjack games, the Steelers branding and NFL football theme are bound to attract football fans. The game has already found a great deal of success which means we can expect to see other NFL brands appear at live casinos all over the world. Perhaps we’ll see Denver Broncos Baccarat, Kansas City Chiefs Craps, and Baltimore Ravens Roulette soon.

Live Casino Gaming is the Future

We have already seen a shift in game offerings at a lot of online casinos. Some have purged all of their RNG table games in favor of live tables. This is partly because more and more online casino enthusiasts now prefer the high level of entertainment and social atmosphere that live dealer online casinos provide. As such, it only makes sense that live casino software developers would try to tap into such a huge fanbase. This is particularly true when the few NFL-themed live games that are out now have been so successful. Green Bay Packer Pai Gow Poker anyone?

Conclusion

We have seen how successful branded slots like The Flintstones, Def Leppard Hysteria, and the hockey-themed Winged Reelers have become. A lot of people are attracted to those games just because of the theme. The same idea is bound to work well in a live dealer setting. Expect to see more top software providers partner with not just NFL teams, but teams from the NHL, MLB, and NBA. There is a lot of potential in American football themes, and live casino game developers see it and will almost certainly capitalize.