Will DraftKings Become the Next Big Sports Betting Business?

Last February, Liverpool FC announced its brand new partnership with its overseas “Official Daily Fantasy Sports Partner”, the American DFS giant known as DraftKings. For LFC supporters, the three-year deal meant LFC the chance to win signed merch and VIP experiences, for the American giant, more exposure in its beachhead for European expansion, England. DraftKings was already in a relationship with another Fenway Sports property, the Boston Red Sox, so the choice for striking a deal with LFC was obvious. And in the near future, this partnership might become even deeper, as DraftKings might become a sports betting venue – a type of business that loves to sponsor Premier League teams.

Similar transformations have been seen quite a few times in the past. The giants of the sports betting world have routinely ventured into other branches of the gambling industry. William Hill has a massive online presence, offering everything from slot machines to poker rooms to its players online, stopping short of launching its own land-based casinos (although it does have casino-style gambling machines in its betting shops). And the transformation of PokerStars into a complete gambling brand, with poker rooms, a sportsbook, and a casino, is also a good example. DraftKings itself might expand in the future, covering a business not entirely dissimilar from its current services.

This year, during the Web Summit in Portugal, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins told the world about the company’s brand new deal with EuroLeague, Europe’s leading basketball league. Under the deal, DraftKings will soon begin live streaming European basketball matches within the company’s smartphone app. This is a service that’s unusual for a daily fantasy sports operator but used quite often by the leading online sportsbooks like William Hill and Bet365. During the presentation, Robins hinted at his company’s interest in providing its users with online sports betting services should the current federal ban on this business be lifted in the US. While this is hardly a declaration of intent – after all, sports betting in all its forms is banned in the majority of US states – it is still a logical next step for the company to take.

DraftKings, along with its rival FanDuel, is the thing closest the US has to online sports betting. Both companies have ties and deals in place with the major sports leagues in the country, which would put them in an ideal position once the ban is lifted. And this might happen sooner than many imagine – the law banning the business is under legal attack by several parties, and the stance of the country’s major sports leagues is slowly starting to turn from a categoric opposition toward a passive acceptance of the business. Who knows – the betting giants currently dominating the market might get a brand new rival sooner than we think.