Turner Sports has teamed up with DraftKings in a bid to boost engagement, expand marketing opportunities, and potentially lead to an official betting partnership with the NCAA.
Turner Sports Seals Deal with DraftKings for Media Awareness
DraftKings and Turner Sports are entering a new multi-year partnership opening up the sportsbook’s way to a potential partnership with the NCAA and March Madness, should the collegiate body ever decides to embrace betting in the first place.
Presently, though, the deal will focus on other actionable assets, with DraftKings marketing, exclusive content and odds finding an outlet across Turner Sports and Bleacher Report’s channels, including both MLB and PGA Tour events.
Turner Sports’ NBA programming, which includes the NCAA and the collegiate apex basketball event, March Madness, will not feature DraftKings’ IP due to the NCAA’s and NCAA schools’ hard stance on wagering at the present moment.
Should the NCAA have a change of heart, however, this gives DraftKings a one-way ticket to providing official betting data for collegiate events and new marketing channels.
While the partnership focuses on marketing, it has not been specified whether Turner will be eligible for affiliate fees for every successful customer it brings and converts for DraftKings.
Sports Betting, a Driver of Engagement
Turner Executive Vice President for Sports, Will Funk, has spoken highly of the opportunity to team with DraftKings, a once ostracized purveyor of daily fantasy sports under threat of being shut-down due to knotty legality across the United States.
According to Funk partnering up with a sports betting business means following industry trends and helping achieve better dynamic, engagement, scaling audiences, and higher time spent viewing for media. He further added:
“This alliance enhances Turner Sports’ content with betting information that our hyper-engaged, highly interactive viewers demand while driving customer engagement and acquisition for DraftKings.”
-Turner Sports Executive VP for Sports Will Funk
While sports betting used to be a controversial issue, with sports leagues voicing concerns and clamoring for now shelved ideas about “integrity fees,” more and more media have decided to boldly push into the segment.
Presently, ESPN works with DraftKings and Caesars, and the network runs a number of sports betting programs, including “The Daily Wager.” NBC Sports signed a partnership with PointsBet, and CBS Sports has tied up a deal with William Hill.
Fox Bet and Stars Group now run Fox Bet and Turner Sports is now even breaking into the blockchain gaming space.
Turner also holds the broadcasting rights to a number of high-profile sports events, including the NBA, MLB, PGA Tour, NCAA’s men basketball, and even ELeague, a competition that focuses on professional video games otherwise known as esports.