DraftKings is known for being an American daily fantasy sports contest and sports betting provider. It allows people to enter daily and weekly fantasy sports–related contests. With this, they can win money depending on an individual player and team performances in five major American sports—which are the MLB, NHL, NFL, NBA, and PGA—as well as Premier League and UEFA Champions League soccer, NASCAR auto racing, Canadian Football League, the XFL, Mixed martial arts (MMA) and Tennis.
DraftKings has three major lines of business namely, daily fantasy sports, sports betting, and online casino gambling. The three mentioned are legal in different areas, and they vary on regulatory burdens as well as margin profiles. Below are 3 things you may not know about DraftKings, and may be valuable for you to know.
1. DraftKings was just the second fantasy sports provider
Before the official launch of DraftKings in 2012, FanDuel was the first major fantasy sports provider, which was established three years earlier in 2009. Even though it’s just new to the industry, it immediately became a major contender for fantasy sports betting and now boasts over 8 million participating members. It can’t be denied that DraftKings is the only major competitor of FanDuel.
2. Investors saw DraftKings as a good deal
DraftKings became a potential for great profit not long before its launch. Ryan Moore at Accomplice in Cambridge led the first round of outside funding along with other investors, and it made the founders so proud. They were able to raise a total of $1.4 million to help DraftKings become more firmly established within the industry.
Moreover, in April 2013, Major League Baseball made an investment in DraftKings as well. It was the first time in history that a US professional sports organization had ever made an investment in fantasy sports.
3. Draftkings and ESPN had a legal issue after the big break
ESPN also gave DraftKings a big break. DraftKings received a three-year advertising contract with ESPN Inc. This was a huge achievement for the company and it included integration of DraftKing’s services with the digital content, together with television advertisement with ESPN. In January 2016, they gained exclusivity in the advertising of fantasy sports services on the network. Sports fans who weren’t aware of DraftKings existence before would now have full exposure to the services. The advertising deal is worth an estimate of $250 million.
Everything was good between ESPN and DraftKings until ESPN canceled their advertising deal with DraftKings out of the blue. In February 2016, a lot of things came up that caused ESPN to end their agreement with the company. There were a lot of doubts at that time about the legality of the service, and ESPN thought it’s better to stay away until the issues had been resolved.
Final Words
Fantasy sports contests have become a trend in the past decade, and people are getting even more engaged. It’s no wonder that DraftKings already made its name, and is now a major competition for other fantasy sports providers. Already being the worldwide leader in DFS, DraftKings’ fast development called the attention of many investors.
If you wish to know more about DraftKings, you can check out GameDayr’s article. In this article, they gave DraftKings a review that will surely give you more information about this American daily fantasy sports contest and sports betting provider.