FanDuel is enhancing its relationship with Major League Baseball (MLB) after signing a new deal designating the operator as a co-exclusive Official Sports Betting Partner of MLB. While the multi-year arrangement includes all the promotional bells and whistles commonly associated with such deals, it also includes a streaming arrangement that will likely bring plenty of new eyeballs to FanDuel’s streaming platform.
Under the terms of the deal, FanDuel will be able to use MLB branding across all of its platforms, including daily fantasy sports (DFS). The operator will also have access to MLB highlights to use on its content and betting products, all of which is pretty standard stuff for these types of deals. What makes this seemingly standard deal a much bigger deal is the inclusion of full-game streaming.
As soon as baseball season starts, FanDuel will be streaming MLB.TV’s Free Game of the Day through both FanDuel’s sportsbook app and on FanDuel’s OTT platform FanDuel+. This is a huge opportunity for FanDuel to engage with some of the most hardcore, loyal fans in the MLB universe. (After all, who else is watching the Free Game of the Day?)
FanDuel is also planning on developing some new baseball betting products which, presumably, will be marketed heavily on the streaming platform.
Christian Genetski, President, FanDuel Group praised baseball’s extremely engaged fan base in a recent press release saying, “The baseball fan is one of the most engaged in all of sports, which is why we’re delighted to be the new sports betting partner of Major League Baseball. Our team is eager to showcase FanDuel in nationally broadcast MLB games and help enhance game narratives and bring America’s Pastime directly into our mobile app and OTT platform for fans to watch and wager.”
MLB’s regular season opens on Thursday, March 30.