With the backdrop of the WNBA All-Star Recreation this weekend and a rise in girls’s sports activities betting, the league and DraftKings introduced a brand new partnership. The digital sports activities leisure and gaming firm is now an official sports activities betting and each day fantasy Accomplice of the WNBA.
The league beforehand inked an analogous cope with market chief FanDuel, which was prolonged in 2022. In response to Eilers & Krejcik Gaming (EGK), FanDuel has 35% of the nationwide on-line sports activities betting market, with DraftKings proper behind at 32%. The 2 operators have exchanged locations up to now yr. DraftKings overtook FanDuel within the third quarter of 2023, however FanDuel returned to the highest spot the next quarter.
Some groups have their very own offers with sportsbooks
DraftKings was a marquee accomplice of the New York Liberty in 2015. The corporate’s brand additionally appeared on group jerseys. Since then, the Liberty has undergone an possession and venue change.
The Connecticut Solar and the Phoenix Mercury play at arenas with on-site sportsbooks. The Mohegan Solar Tribe owns the Solar and has a FanDuel-branded sportsbook. The group performs on the huge Mohegan Solar on line casino complicated. The Phoenix Mercury’s house, Footprint Middle, has a FanDuel sportsbook that opened in 2021.
On-line sports activities betting is authorized in 30 states, plus Washington, DC. Nevertheless, it’s unlawful in California and Texas, the 2 largest states with WNBA groups.
DraftKings Partnership Particulars
As a part of the settlement introduced immediately, DraftKings will acquire rights to league and collective group mental property. The corporate may also have entry to advertising, activation, and hospitality alternatives round league occasions, such because the All-Star Recreation. DraftKings will use official WNBA information feeds to help followers’ gameplay expertise. This builds on DraftKings’ present partnership with the NBA, which started in 2021.
Lisa Leslie, Naismith Basketball Corridor of Famer and DraftKings Expertise Ambassador, expressed her pleasure concerning the collaboration. “Having labored alongside each DraftKings and the WNBA, I’m thrilled to see these progressive manufacturers come collectively and additional improve pleasure and visibility round girls’s sports activities,” Leslie mentioned. “The WNBA is quickly increasing its attain and DraftKings has an unmatched skill to additional generate further fan engagement. I’m wanting ahead to seeing DraftKings elevate the WNBA’s fan expertise within the midst of this record-breaking season.”
The partnership will present DraftKings with elevated media publicity on the WNBA’s digital and linear media platforms. DraftKings may also function the presenting accomplice of the “WNBA Postseason Push,” a brand new content material platform that includes league highlights, social integrations, and odds updates targeted on the newest WNBA standings throughout the remaining two weeks of the common season in September.
Colie Edison, WNBA Chief Development Officer, commented on the partnership’s potential advantages. “The WNBA is rising and increasing throughout the board, and partnering with business leaders like DraftKings allows us to supply WNBA followers further methods to have interaction with their favourite groups and gamers, responsibly and with integrity,” Edison mentioned. “This chance for DraftKings to lean in with us to help girls’s sports activities will welcome extra followers to the WNBA. We’re wanting ahead to working alongside DraftKings to additional improve innovation and fairness in girls’s sports activities.”
Sports activities betting is a technique the league has constructed viewership, particularly in gentle of the recognition of this yr’s rookie class, with names like Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese galvanizing followers to purchase tickets and merchandise and tune in through TV and streaming companies.
Within the phrases of WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert earlier this yr:
“It’s an necessary strategy to develop our viewership. The one factor I find out about sports activities, you want family names, rivalries, and video games of consequence. These are the three issues we’ve had over the previous couple weeks, and hopefully, will proceed into the WNBA season. Definitely, sports activities betting is one thing that pulls followers in.”
