The NFL’s contracts with all three of its sports betting partners ended quietly earlier this year. While DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars sit in limbo, the league has reportedly found its replacement in Fanatics.
The ambitious sports brand will now have rights to promote its sportsbook across NFL channels and work with the league on premium experiences. Financial terms were not disclosed, but Sports Business Journalreported that the NFL’s previous partners paid roughly $200 million combined annually.
Partnering with the NFL is a coup for Fanatics, which has aggressively moved into experiences and content after starting out as a memorabilia brand. But the league’s split from the two biggest online sportsbooks is at least equally important.
At the center of the NFL’s rift with DraftKings and FanDuel, reportedly, is the live-streaming feature that was previously available in each company’s mobile app as part of their partnerships with the league. Through “BetVision,” bettors who wagered on an NFL game were able to stream that game through the DraftKings or FanDuel app.
Genius, the company that powered these streams and much of the data sharing between the NFL and gambling operators, recently raised its prices. Genius produces the feeds with real-time graphics and statistics intended to inform users’ bets. To offer these in-app streams, the NFL requires sportsbook partners to enter into separate deals with Genius. The higher costs for Genius data led DraftKings and FanDuel to hesitate to re-up with the NFL, and Fanatics swooped in to take their place.
While the NFL is surely pleased that Fanatics met its requests and filled a glaring void as a sportsbook partner, the move will put a spotlight on the actual value of Genius data and these livestreams (which are common across other sports as well). Were users actually watching games on DraftKings or FanDuel rather than NFL Sunday Ticket or their local television networks?
If not, the question of why the NFL has mandated that Genius be part of its sportsbook partnerships will become more glaring.
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