Offering action on events ranging from Kanye West tweets to table-tennis matches, FanDuel kept fans engaged through the COVID sports shutdown, a company executive says.
That emphasis on keeping fans engaged and showing respect for their interests will help legal sports-betting operators enjoy continued growth and acceptance in the United States, said Mike Raffensperger, chief marketing officer of one of the top online sportsbooks in the United States.
“There was meaningful activity on our sports book throughout COVID,” he said. “Just trying to be focused on providing a good customer experience during a difficult time for sports is where we put our energies.”
Raffensperger described FanDuel’s approach during an Aug. 14 interview by Dan Loney on SiriusXM’s Business Radio and Wharton Business Daily. He was one of four industry executives spotlighted in Loney’s program on “The Business of Gaming in a Pandemic.”
“Our role, such as it was during the time, was to help keep people entertained and even provide a bit of a distraction,” Raffensperger said. The company developed alternative formats because major sports around the world were shut down; even the Olympic Games were postponed. “Believe it or not, the number-one most popular sport (among FanDuel bettors) throughout the COVID period in the summer was table tennis,” he said. FanDuel obtained streaming rights to several “tertiary”-level sporting events, so fans could watch on their app.
Other FanDuel offerings included esports, fantasy sports with simulated games in which people used digitized versions of athletes, and a free-to-play “Win at Home” game with a series of prop-style bets, such as predicting the number of Kanye West tweets or the next twist on “The Bachelor.”
“People seem to really enjoy that, and what we found is, surprisingly, most of our player base stayed engaged, even during a time without a tremendous amount of sports,” Raffensperger said.
FanDuel boasts 8.5 million customers, a presence in 45 states, and partnerships with the National Basketball Association, Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, and other leagues. It offers online betting in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Indiana, and Colorado. Soon, Raffensperger predicted, legal sports betting will be available in-state to most Americans.
FanDuel is currently enjoying “an embarrassment of riches,” with the NHL, NBA, and MLB all playing at the same time in the late summer when the pickings normally would be slim.
“You can absolutely see the hunger for sports,” Raffensperger said. “And we’re starting to partner with both our broadcast partners and the league itself to talk about sports betting within the actual broadcast and in their studio programming. We’re excited to be kind of at the forefront of what that looks like.”
Sports narratives can intersect with sports betting to provide content that appeals to bettors and non-bettors alike, he said. “You can make interesting content … and be respectful of the audience in a way to actually add value to the broadcast.”
Operators need to maintain respect for fans and the leagues as legal sports betting expands, including the possibility of partnerships with the NFL and NCAA, he said.
Raffensperger noted that the NFL recently allowed individual teams to partner with sports-betting operators. FanDuel was the first with an agreement, partnering with the Denver Broncos. He said FanDuel hopes to enhance the fan experience through offerings such as sports betting, fantasy sports, and free-to-play gaming. One example: New Colorado bettors can get a Week One bet of the Broncos plus 30 points.
Partnerships with colleges or conferences are more of a question mark, because the NCAA opposes betting on collegiate sports. “Do I suspect at some point there will be a kind of opening in that category? Probably,” Raffensperger said. “There may be a promotional partnership with (collegiate) sports betting but somewhat separate from the athletes themselves,” he said.
As with professional leagues, operators need to be “respectful of the fan experience, respectful of those who may not be interested in gambling.”
