SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Daily fantasy sports (DFS) operator DraftKings is set to further its relationship with Walt Disney Company owned US sports network ESPN, by committing $250 million (£160 million) in ad-spend over the next two years.
DraftKings will become the exclusive DFS partner to ESPN owned media channels and digital inventory as the operator secures its biggest advertising partnership and secures nationwide DFS coverage over competitor FanDuel.
The ad-spend partnership follows June’s news that Walt Disney would not be investing $250 million venture capital in DraftKings for a 27% stake. US news sources reported that Walt Disney did not see an adequate fit between its brand and daily fantasy sports.
At present DratKings are in advanced talks with a number of high-level investors to raise its Series D funding, to date the operator has raised $75 million (£50 million).
Technology news source ReCode.com has detail that DraftKings CEO Jason Robins has stated that the partnership will go beyond DraftKings committing ad-spend with ESPN, as it will see a ‘deep integration’ of its services.
The significant ad-spend partnership has raised numerous concerns amongst the tech and start-up community, as DraftKings recorded $30 million in revenues for 2014. DraftKings is currently in a high cost marketing battle with competitor FanDuel who this month secured $275 million in series E funding with Google and Time Warner as investors
