When the University of Hawaii Rainbow Wahine volleyball team opens play Aug. 24 there will be something on the floor that was unimaginable even a couple of years ago:

Prominently positioned, logoed naming rights for Boyd Gaming Corp’s California Hotel stretched on each endline.

It was such a big step for UH, perception wise, that the proposal went up to the UH Board of Regents before permission was granted. Indeed, that was probably where the “…and Casino” suddenly went missing from the title, no doubt to assuage more conservative sensibilities.

Still, it was yet another sign, this time locally and however incremental, of the growing acceptance of partnerships between gambling entities and sports in this country.

It is a trend that seemingly picks up steam almost daily on the national level. Last week, for example, Boyd and MGM Resorts International announced a partnership that permits each other to offer mobile sports betting and online gambling in states with legalized sports betting where just the other partner is present.

Tuesday, the NBA became the first professional league to strike a deal with a casino and sports book operator, MGM, as its “official gaming partner.”

Then, Wednesday, Mississippi became the fourth state to offer legalized sports betting with more sure to follow in coming months.

The impetus was the landmark Supreme Court decision in May to repeal the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, a federal law that had prohibited betting on football, basketball, baseball, golf and other sports in most states. That opened the way for each state to decide its own course.

The future, analysts say, is fans sitting in their living rooms or in seats at stadiums and arenas across the country making real time bets from their mobile devices.

So much so that states now loosened from federal prohibition are eyeing the opportunities to rake in a new revenue stream as soon as possible with pro leagues eyeing a cut. Eilers &Krejcik Gaming, which tracks gambling issues, has predicted upwards of 30 states may introduce bills relating to sports wagering within two years. Some estimates forecast as many as 44 states taking the plunge on sports wagering by 2023.

The likelihood of Hawaii being one of them would seem remote given the historic demise of a string of gambling measures in the state Legislature.

But, then, there was a not-so-distant time under NCAA restriction when any sponsor, let alone one for the gaming industry, could occupy anything but the fringes of the floor at arenas such as the San Sheriff Center.

Boyd Gaming’s Hawaii-targeted downtown Las Vegas California Hotel and Casino property has long been an across-the-board UH corporate sponsor and been in and out of negotiations on a deeper relationship for years. Its decades-old previous platinum level sponsorship calls for a minimum of $100,000 per year and gave it some signage and promotional opportunities.

But what it is contracted for now, with the additional $450,000 commitment providing a boost to UH athletic department coffers, even spread over 10 years, adds a new page.

One that nobody should be too surprised to see where it might eventually go from here.