DraftKings and Major League Baseball Sign New, Exclusive Deal
DraftKings became the first DFS site to partner with a professional sports league when they first joined forces with MLB to market their daily fantasy product in 2013. Two years later, both parties have doubled down on this agreement, leading to a multi-year deal providing DraftKings with exclusive status as the league’s “Official Daily Fantasy Game.”
Unlike past DFS/league deals which allowed for teams to do their own deals with sites (such as we see in the NBA currently, with FanDuel holding league-wide sponsorship, but some teams partnering with DK), this deal will encompass the entire MLB industry. Every team will work with DraftKings to market their service and provide “market-specific, in-ballpark experiences”, according to a press release.
The league will provide marketing opportunities and exposure for DraftKings in every ballpark, as well as featuring their brand at marquee events such as All-Star Week and the postseason and World Series. DK’s brand will also be promoted over MLB’s digital channels, including MLB.TV and the At Bat app.
According to the press release, DK CEO Jason Robbins said that MLB has been “embracing new technologies to create superior fan experiences” and that he’s happy to be partnered with them to help provide those sorts of experiences to fans through their one-day games and unique prize packages.
We have already seen how DraftKings markets to local fans based on their partnerships, with events featuring prizes such as courtside seats and fan experiences for local NBA games. This exclusive, league-wide deal with MLB means DK can offer these unique opportunities to fans in every MLB city, as well as All-Star and postseason events.
The DFS industry is growing in leaps and bounds, and this is just another example of how “mainstream” the daily game is becoming. DraftKings and FanDuel will continue to create partnerships and carve out new marketing opportunities to try to gain an edge on their competition, which should lead to plenty of unique experiences for users of these sites. It will be interesting to see how creatively DraftKings leverages this partnership, and what sort of impact this deal has on the competition in the DFS industry.