DraftKings Announced Expanded Partnership Deal with the NBA

Digital sports and entertainment company DraftKings announced today its relationship with the NBA deepened to make it a co-official sports betting partner of the professional basketball league.

The Partnership Deepens

The expanded agreement between DraftKings and the NBA grants the Boston-based brand expansive league rights to integrate official NBA assets into its sports betting, daily fantasy sport, online casino, and free-to-play offerings, as well as marketing and other promotional campaigns.

DraftKings became an Authorized Gaming Operator (AGO) of the NBA in 2019 and gained access to the league’s official betting data. Additionally, the parties have been collaborating ever since to create and deliver engaging fan content and experiences.

“DraftKings has demonstrated a clear commitment to strategically investing at the intersection of betting and content. We are excited to be expanding our relationship to include content initiatives like NBABet Stream to engage NBA fans in unique ways.”

Scott Kaufman-Ross, SVP, Head of Gaming & New Business Ventures, NBA

Making DraftKings the exclusive presenting sponsor of the league’s telecast NBABet Stream, a sports betting programming distributed via NBA League Pass and the NBA TV app, the new dynamic will allow the gaming company to feature odds, props, and other forms of game-focused content integrated into the NBABet Stream weekly broadcast.

“The NBA season only just tipped off, and yet we have already seen the immediate impact of the sport among our customer base with significant re-engagement along with healthy new betting activity across all of our states.”

Ezra Kucharz, Chief Business Officer, DraftKings

“All of this signals the rising demand for NBA basketball in its 75th anniversary season among sports bettors and daily fantasy players, and we are pleased to continuously collaborate with the league on new fan-centric platforms like our NBABet Stream integration,” Ezra Kucharz added.

Fan Engagement Opportunities

The expanded partnership also grants DraftKings with on-site activations at NBA events, including the All-Star Game, Rising Stars, All-Star Saturday Night and NBA Draft presented by State Farm. For certain local markets, DraftKings’ logo will feature through digital displays around the court during home games.

The new deal expands on DraftKings’ presence across courts of the NBA after previous arrangements saw the operator partner with several franchises of the professional basketball league, including the Charlotte Hornets, Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers.

The new arrangement with the NBA followed hot in the heels of the partnership deal DraftKings struck with the NHL last month to become the league’s official sports betting, fantasy sports and iGaming partner.