If you happen to watch sports on television, you’ve more than likely seen a DraftKings or FanDuel advertisement. Not only have the two giants in Daily Fantasy been spending on television advertising, but they’ve also started to spend on both athlete and celebrity endorsements and sponsorships.
This week, DraftKings signed a sponsorship as an official partner of the National Hockey League, while FanDuel signed on as an official partner of the National Basketball Association. While most of the assets in these sponsorships are exposure and awareness based, both FanDuel and DraftKings are hoping to convert sports fans and traditional season-long fantasy players into Daily Fantasy players. Both sites are looking at these sites as a lead generating engine, as Daily Fantasy has just begun to tap into the season-long fantasy players. With recent private equity backed funding rounds, Daily Fantasy Sports are here to stay and represent the future of sports gaming and potentially a glimpse into the future if sports gambling ends up being legalized.

But the real question here is, as a property, what are the key drivers for a Daily Fantasy site to sponsor? While exposure and the ability to attach their brand to a credible property (team, league, building, etc.) is immensely important to their strategy, having an authentic way to tie gaming into the sponsorship is vital. DraftKings and FanDuel typically create games with their partners where instead of winning money, players win merchandise, and they win new registrations on their site. 

One other thing to keep in mind is that while FanDuel and DraftKings have received the most traction, there’s a plethora of other sites trying to break through the clutter. That’s a scenario in which a sponsorship would make perfect sense. Some sites that are just starting to receive traction are USA Today’s Fantasy Score and VICTIV, amongst many others. 

Daily Fantasy Sports is officially the industry’s hottest category and isn’t going away any time soon.