FanDuel agrees multi-year Major League Baseball partnership
US market leader to become co-exclusive official sports betting partner with emphasis on responsible gambling messaging
FanDuel has inked a multi-year deal to become the co-executive official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Under the terms of the deal, FanDuel gains the right to use official MLB branding and category designations across sportsbook, daily fantasy sports (DFS), and on its FanDuel Faceoff platforms, as well as marketing campaigns.
The company will also have the right to use highlights both in product and as part of original programming on the recently launched FanDuel TV streaming platform.
“The partnership will also create new opportunities for MLB and FanDuel to collaborate on projects for other sponsor partners of both FanDuel and MLB platforms, as well as to work together to bring consumers new sports betting product innovations to drive deeper fan engagement,” FanDuel said in a statement on the new partnership.
The partnership also includes a commitment to increase awareness of responsible gambling among players through the use of messaging across the operator’s baseball-themed portfolio.
FanDuel group president Christian Genetski suggested baseball fans were among “the most engaged” fans in US sports, lauding the potential value add from the new MLB partnership.
“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,” he explained.
“We’re also very excited about the opportunity to work together with MLB on new betting product innovations that will give customers the opportunity to enhance their experience on every pitch from March until October,” Genetski added.
FanDuel has worked with MLB as an authorized gaming operator of the league since 2019, but this deal marks the first divergence of this relationship into sports betting, something which MLB executive VP of media and business development Kenny Gersh alluded to in his remarks on the deal.
“As one of the top sportsbooks in America, FanDuel has been an industry leader in innovative fan engagement opportunities while also reminding them of the importance of doing it responsibly.
“These key priorities of unique fan engagement and responsible gambling align with our focus from the league level and make FanDuel a natural partner to collaborate with as an official sports betting partner,” Gersh added.