DraftKings not too long ago signed a deal to sponsor the Belmont Stakes, the ultimate leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown, and it’s the most recent instance of daily fantasy sportsbook’ “Huge Two” linking themselves to the largest occasions in sportsbook.
Belmont + DraftKings =
DraftKings connected itself to the “sport of kings” final week, turning into “the presenting sponsor of the 2015 Belmont Stakes Racing Competition.” That, clearly, contains sponsorship of the actually essential race — the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 6.
The race takes on added significance this yr, with yet one more horse — American Pharoah — attempting to win the Triple Crown. No horse has achieved the feat since Affirmed in 1978, though American Pharaoh is the 14th horse to enter the Belmont with an opportunity to win after beforehand topping the fields in the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.
As a part of the deal, DraftKings placed on a DFS contest (for Main League Baseball) the place the winner acquired a VIP package deal to attend the race in New York. (For the document, the competition was gained by poker and DFS professional Bryan Devonshire, who additionally gained a contest to throw out a primary pitch at an MLB sport a couple of months in the past.)
Like most of the sponsorship offers signed by DraftKings and FanDuel, the Belmont deal included a variety of advertising and promoting publicity:
DraftKings’ vital on-site activation will embrace branded attire on all horses and gate crew, a branded cooler blanket on the successful horse of the Belmont Stakes on the conclusion of the race, a Belmont Stakes branded DraftKings Participant Lounge and an unique hospitality space for VIP race followers. … DraftKings may even be seen to sportsbook followers throughout the nation with a variety of ads and promotions for the model airing throughout the in-race broadcast on NBC.
Whether or not or not there’s a direct DFS tie-in…
Whereas DraftKings and FanDuel are clearly hammering away at sponsorships for the sportsbook by which they each supply DFS contests — baseball, soccer, basketball and hockey — it’s not the one battleground:
- In non-event sponsorship information, DraftKings simply introduced a deal this morning with Madison Sq. Backyard, giving it a “fantasy lounge” within the enviornment in addition to partnerships with the New York Rangers and New York Knicks. DraftKings may even seem on the jerseys of the WNBA’s New York Liberty.
- FanDuel paid for a spot on Floyd Mayweather’s trunks for his Might combat in opposition to Manny Pacquiao — a deal reported to be price 1,000,000 USD. FanDuel supplied a VIP expertise — together with a meet-and-greet with Mayweather — to accompany that announcement. DraftKings later awarded a last-minute VIP package deal to the combat, sans the Mayweather connection.
- DraftKings‘ presence on the World Sequence of Poker has been bigger than anticipated. Whereas it was identified DK was sponsoring a match on the WSOP, the DraftKings brand is showing almost in every single place on the match sequence in Las Vegas. There’s a “DraftKings” lounge on website, the emblem seems on the felt of each match desk, and DraftKings is sponsoring/showing on the stay streams of each occasion.
- Similtaneously the Belmont this Saturday, FanDuel will likely be internet hosting a USD750,000 stay baseball contest on the Playboy Mansion. DraftKings and FantasyAces are among the many websites that additionally supply giant stay finals.
- DraftKings is awarding three VIP packages tied to golf, with the chance to play with a PGA Tour participant on the Quicken Loans Nationwide Professional-Am in July. DraftKings affords fantasy golf contests, whereas FanDuel doesn’t.
- DraftKings continues to supply possibilities to win prize packages to blended martial arts contests within the UFC, together with attending the not too long ago held UFC 187 in Las Vegas and the upcoming UFC 189, additionally in Vegas. Once more, DraftKings affords MMA contests, whereas FanDuel doesn’t.
What may very well be subsequent?
It’s not clear if a few of these offers are a sport of one-upmanship, or just an space by which DraftKings’ and FanDuel’s advertising methods overlap. Clearly, each websites are simply concentrating on basic sportsbook followers, to some extent. The Mayweather-Pacquiao combat and the Belmont characterize alternatives to get the eye of informal followers watching main sporting occasions.
So what’s on the sporting calendar that the 2 websites might take into consideration sponsoring or creating VIP experiences round?
Golf (U.S. Open, British Open, PGA Championship)
Clearly, this one’s going to DraftKings, if it may possibly hammer out a deal. We don’t see FanDuel providing an opportunity to go to a golf occasion and shining a highlight on fantasy golf, which it doesn’t supply. There are three main tournaments nonetheless left this summer season, together with the U.S. Open in a couple of weeks. There’s additionally apparent hypothesis within the DFS trade of a possible overarching deal between DraftKings and the PGA Tour.
Tennis (Wimbledon, U.S. Open)
We’re fairly certain there’s not going to be daily fantasy sportsbook for tennis anytime quickly. However even informal sportsbook followers can get into the final two main tournaments on the summer season slate. Nevertheless, we’re guessing the clamor for these tickets would seemingly pale as compared the boxing and horse racing packages.
Soccer (Ladies’s World Cup)
Whereas not a significant draw when it comes to producing contest entries, this is able to be a tangible option to drive up curiosity in DFS from girls, which has typically lagged throughout the board within the quick historical past of the house. The World Cup begins this weekend and continues by July. The American girls, as at all times, are one of many favorites to win.
Olympics (Rio de Janeiro, 2016)
It looks as if a stretch {that a} DFS website would sponsor the Olympics, or that the Olympics would settle for a DFS sponsor. Whereas DFS will not be thought of playing within the U.S., it typically is in the remainder of the world, even whether it is thought of a sport of ability, on the identical time. Clearly, although, it could seem like throughout the energy of both website to place collectively VIP packages to ship contest winners to Rio.
After itemizing the probabilities, it’s actually attainable the Mayweather-Pacquiao and the Belmont sponsorships are one-off offers given the large audiences generated by each. Or it’s attainable that we’re seeing the primary steps in the direction of extra event-by-event offers signed by DFS websites.
Picture by Mike L used below license CC BY 2.0