Rivals DraftKings and FanDuel Thursday both announced multi-year expanded partnerships with the NBA. Both companies are designated as official betting partners of the league and will have marketing, content and digital rights to integrate NBA assets with their promotions.
“The NBA season only just tipped off, and yet we have already seen the immediate impact of the sport among our customer base with significant re-engagement along with healthy new betting activity across all of our states,” said DraftKings Chief Business Officer Ezra Kucharz in a statement. “All of this signals the rising demand for NBA basketball in its 75th anniversary season among sports bettors and daily fantasy players, and we are pleased to continuously collaborate with the league on new fan-centric platforms like our NBABet Stream integration.”
“FanDuel’s partnership with the NBA has been a cornerstone of our success for many years, and together we have revolutionized what is possible in a partnership between a professional sports league and a sports gaming operator,” said Amy Howe, FanDuel Group President & CEO Amy Howe in a statement. “As we move into the next phase of our relationship to include the NBPA, we are excited to once again reimagine how we engage basketball fans.”
DraftKings will become the exclusive presenting sponsor of NBABet Stream, the league’s betting-focused telecast distributed via NBA League Pass and the NBA TV app. During this weekly betting-focused broadcast, DraftKings odds, lines, props and other forms of gaming-centric content will become integrated into the live-game experience.
The deal also gives DraftKings the right to activate on-site at premier NBA events, including the NBA All-Star Game, the Rising Stars contest, NBA All-Star Saturday Night, and the NBA Draft presented by State Farm.
DraftKings first became an authorized gaming operator with the NBA in 2019.
“DraftKings has demonstrated a clear commitment to strategically investing at the intersection of betting and content,” said, NBA Senior Vice President, Head of Gaming & New Business Ventures Scott Kaufman-Ross in a statement. “We are excited to be expanding our relationship to include content initiatives like NBABet Stream to engage NBA fans in unique ways.”
FanDuel, part of Flutter Entertainment, will be able to create and feature content that includes NBA game highlight across its various platforms. This new agreement also makes FanDuel the exclusive presenting partner of the weekly NBABet Show co-produced by Turner Sports Monday nights on NBA TV. And fans can choose to see FanDuel odds displayed on the Games page of NBA.com.
FanDuel, which has been the official DFS partner and authorized gaming operator of the league for seven years, also will be able to create and promote its online casino games featuring NBA marks and logos.
“Throughout our seven-year partnership, we have consistently worked with FanDuel to innovate together around the fan experience,” said Kaufman-Ross in a statement. “This expanded relationship marks the latest chapter of our story, and we look forward to leveraging these new initiatives to continue to engage fans in new ways.”
