American rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z (pictured) is reportedly partnering with licensed sports merchandise giant Fanatics Incorporated in hopes of boosting the firm’s chances at winning one of the two master online commercial sportsbetting licenses being made available by officials in the state of New York.

According to a report from the Bloomberg news service, the move from the 51-year-old New York native comes after Fanatics Incorporated applied via its new Fanatics Betting and Gaming enterprise for the right to begin offering online sportsbetting services to punters across ‘The Empire State’ from early next year.

Profitable potential:

New York is home to over 20 million people and it is set to grant online sportsbetting licenses to a pair of ‘platform providers’ by as soon as December with the ambition of being able to annually raise as much as $500 million in new tax revenues. Florida-based Fanatics Incorporated is eager to secure one of these potentially-lucrative authorizations so as to be able to spin off as many as four separate customer-facing online sports wagering brands, which are colloquially called ‘skins.’

Advantageous alliance:

Bloomberg reported that Jay-Z, whose given name is Shawn Carter, was born and raised in Brooklyn and has a long history of involvement with business ventures in his home state including the Roc Nation LLC entertainment and publishing enterprise headquartered in Manhattan. The ‘Empire State of Mind’ rapper is to now purportedly serve as Fanatics Betting and Gaming’s Vice-Chairman as it endeavors to win one of the four ‘platform provider’ licenses.

Fanatics Incorporated reportedly used an official filing with the New York State Gaming Commission to assert that Jay-Z, who has an estimated personal fortune of around $1.4 billion, is to now work with Roc Nation LLC and Fanatics Betting and Gaming to ‘help attract new customers, engage existing sports bettors and expand the overall footprint of the Fanatics sportsbook.’

Desired diversification:

Jacksonville-headquartered Fanatics Incorporated has reportedly undergone a recent reorganization with its founder and Executive Chairman, Michael Rubin, taking over as Chief Executive Officer. The Philadelphia native is purportedly looking to expand the company’s interest into areas such as media, gambling and ticketing services and in June hired former FanDuel Group boss Matt King to lead its new Fanatics Betting and Gaming subordinate.

Sizeable struggle:

Fanatics Incorporated is reportedly facing stiff competition for one of the two New York online ‘platform provider’ sportsbetting licenses with a joint bid from FanDuel Group, DraftKings Incorporated, MGM Resorts International and Bally’s Corporation being widely seen as the front-runner. A consortium featuring Caesars Entertainment Incorporated, Wynn Resorts Limited, Rush Street Interactive Incorporated, Genting Malaysia Berhad and the PointsBet USA subsidiary of Australian online sportsbook operator PointsBet Holdings Proprietary Limited has also lodged an official tender as have European giant Bet365 Group Limited and Canadian innovator Score Media and Gaming Incorporated.