FanDuel Became Associated Press’ Exclusive Odds Provider

Daily fantasy sport (DFS) and sportsbook operator FanDuel announced an agreement with nonprofit news agency Associated Press (AP) to become AP’s exclusive odds provider across its global sports report.

FanDuel Odds Featuring in AP’s Sport Reports

The multi-year deal provides for FanDuel Sportsbook odds to appear in daily sports odds fixtures, games previews and other sport-related stories with immediate effect, in exchange for an undisclosed price.

“AP is a globally recognized leader in trusted news, making them the ideal source for us to disseminate our industry-leading sportsbook’s proprietary odds and content.”

Adam Kaplan, General Manager and VP of Content, FanDuel Group

Under the agreement, FanDuel widgets will be integrated across the sports pages of the news agency’s website APNews.com, while select content of the operator will be distributed across the AP wire.

“As sports betting becomes more commonplace, our customers are increasingly asking for this kind of information.”

Barry Bedlan, Global Director, Text and New Markets Products, AP

Agency executives were quick to outline that the news service organization will retain editorial control over all distributed content, except for the one which is now contracted to solely use wagering data from the DFS and sportsbook provider.

Odds Exclusivity Will Ensure Consistency

While obliged to use exclusively FanDuel Sportsbook wagering data, the news agency further noted it will ensure consistency across all its sports coverage.

“It makes sense to work with one of the largest reputable sportsbooks in the United States to provide a consistent, credible reference point for AP and its customers.”

Barry Bedlan, Global Director, Text and New Markets Products, AP

The commercial agreement to cite betting odds from FanDuel is not a common one for the nonprofit news agency which has a history of being an independent news organization dating 175 years back, as there is no information as to how often in its history AP entered into deals to feature paid-for content in its news reports.

Earlier this month, FanDuel parent company Flutter Entertainment saw its plans to list a small stake in the DFS and sportsbook brand thwarted by a surprising announcement made by FanDuel CEO Matt King.

The executive, who spent nearly the last 4 years leading the transformation of FanDuel from an online daily fantasy brand to a true market leader in the online sports betting and iGaming space, announced that he would be stepping down from the role.