On Tuesday afternoon, shortly after it was announced that the University of Colorado's athletic department had reached a five-year partnership with sports betting operator PointsBet, athletic director Rick George joined reporters for a Zoom teleconference to discuss the details and implications of the new deal.

You can read CU's full press release here.

The CU athletics press release stated:

"The five-year deal provides a financial boost for CU Athletics during a time when athletic department budgets nationwide are stressed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The arrangement includes specific support for the department’s Scripps Leadership and Career Development Program, which helps prepare student-athletes for success beyond their playing days."

In terms of what specifically the deal offers PointsBet regarding visibility on campus:

"The deal will give PointsBet visibility at Folsom Field and the CU Events Center through gameday promotions and advertising space, as well as placement on radio broadcasts of CU games and other media channels."

George was quick to write off the possibility of seeing gaming kiosks at on-campus venues in Boulder.

Additionally, any naming opportunities or rights that PointsBet may garner from the partnership has yet to be discussed. Nor will George or Colorado release financial details about what the new partnership brings to CU in terms of dollar signs.

But regardless, in a world where you look left and ADs are furloughing or laying off employees, and then turn right to see teams and programs eliminated, this partnership — the first between a sports betting operator and NCAA D-1 athletics program — is a fiscal positive during a largely uncertain landscape.

“We’ve been working with Learfield IMG and PointsBet on developing this partnership over the last several months," George said. "The timing of it is great. One of things is that it fits — we’ve said all along that we’re not going to do anything to downgrade the things we’re doing in the support areas for our student-athletes. Certainly, this enhances that effort and provides more opportunity for our student-athletes."

"It was natural and the timing was great with school starting and sport gaming in our state. I think the timing is great and can be valuable to our Scripps Leadership and Career Development and it can be valuable to our student-athletes who are looking for internships and post-graduate jobs. It’s an important partnership as we move forward.”

George sees the partnership as a way to enhance the educational awareness of what responsible sports betting looks like, especially for Colorado's student-athletes.

“I think a lot of it has to do with education and PointsBet can help us educate our student-athletes," he said. "I know our conference is partnering with a group to create training for student-athletes on all of our campuses. Sports gaming in college athletics is becoming more and more prevalent in states and I think it’s going to expand moving forward. The educational piece will be a critical part of that."

"Having a partnership with somebody like PointBet allows us, and having a partnership with our gaming industry in our state, will help us protect the integrity of our competition and our sports. That’s how we look at it.”

See below for additional comments from George and PointsBet CCO Eric Foote.

Join the conversation on Colorado's newly announced athletics partnership with PointsBet at Buff Nation, the premiere message board community serving countless CU fanatics.

"Our intentions are to be synonymous with Colorado sports betting in wake of the Kroenke partnership. This partnership also solidifies our efforts to become Colorado’s true hometown sports book. As you think of the University Colorado Boulder, first thing is that it’s a class university system with such a rich school of tech talent. We are a tech company at heart and we really look forward to recruiting some of the best and brightest minds to help install a foundation of prolonged success here at CU, and being in Denver and Boulder. We’re quite excited about the opportunity.”

“Being that our HQ is here in Denver as of last fall and that we’re building a very beautiful space on 17th and Market set to open later on in October, we felt the foundation for us was to really build this partnership here in the state of Colorado. Thinking CU Boulder is the top university to work with and has the brightest and best student-athletes, we felt (CU) was the best school to focus on. I can’t focus on other partnerships that may happen down the road — it may happen, it may not, but I think right now it is in Colorado and here in CU Boulder.”

“As I’ve said to all of you, we’re committed to providing a world class experience for our student-athletes and one of the key components of that is our leadership and career development program. None of these things are allowable and possible without the generous financial support of our corporate partners, our donors, our fans and alumni. The PointsBet partnership will help ensure that we’re able to provide that world class experience for our student-athletes for years to come."

"As I said, I’m particularly excited about the support this will provide for our scripts leadership and career development program, which will be put in place to help ensure that our student athletes are successful not just while at CU but long after their playing days are finished. We are committed to working with responsible corporate partners who conduct business ethically and who are the best at what they do. PointsBet is certainly one of those and has been viewed as a market leader for its responsible gaming efforts."

"The partnership with CU athletics will emphasize and create awareness around responsible gaming and sports betting education. As the US sports betting industry continues to expand its footprint, PointsBet recognizes the importance of proper education as well as responsible gaming awareness. We supported the state bill round sports gaming because we believe the integrity of our sports will be stronger now that it’s legal. We are partnering with SportsBet because we feel this partnership further increased the integrity of our game."

"And finally, I’d say that I’m excited that they’re a Colorado company with their N.A. HQ in Denver. We’re always excited to partner with someone in our own backyard. They’re committed to hiring in the local area, hiring potential student-athletes and we think this is really going to help our scripts leadership and career development department and we’re excited to make this announcement today.”

"The first key factor in this is that it’s going to benefit our student-athletes in the areas of leadership and career development. That’s an important part of what we’re doing and to be able to provide the support and internship opportunities — they’re a technology company and we’re a school that has a tremendous amount of students and student-athletes in those areas, so we think there’s a real positive in that regard, relative to this partnership."

"We’re pretty excited about what that will do for us. A big component of this is geared towards our scripts career leadership and development department. We feel good about that.”

“We wanted to do this partnership and certainly, as we move forward in this partnership, we’ll continue to have discussion with PointsBet about other opportunities, but right now, the major focus was on the Scripps Leadership and Career Development, responsible gaming, education — those were things we thought are important in this and we haven’t really gotten into discussions on what’s next.”