Starting this season, the NFL will have official sports betting partners for the first time in league history. As announced Thursday, the NFL has struck a multiyear agreement with Caesars Entertainment, DraftKings and FanDuel, granting all three partners exclusive access to certain NFL content for retail and sports betting, as well as paving the way for integration of betting content into NFL Network broadcasts as soon as this fall.
A number of NFL teams, like professional franchises in other leagues, had already partnered with companies for official sports betting cooperation. (The Giants, for example, partnered with DraftKings in September 2020, while the Jets struck a deal with BetMGM for a similar partnership two years earlier). The NFL, however, had yet to designate official betting partners prior to Thursday.
Its multiyear deal with Caesars, DraftKings and FanDuel will mean several things: First, each of the companies will be permitted exclusive access to NFL content, like logos, highlights and trademarks; as well as opportunities to integrate their own content into NFL Media properties like NFL.com and the NFL app. Caesars will be tasked with a presence at key NFL events like the 2022 Pro Bowl and 2022 NFL Draft in Las Vegas, as well as in its online iGaming space. Each partner will also be permitted to produce NFL-themed free-to-play games.
DraftKings and FanDuel will be permitted to incorporate NFL highlights, footage and Next Gen Stats content into their platforms. Perhaps most notably, FanDuel will also work with the NFL on pregame integration opportunities on NFL Network for the seven regular-season games the network will air in 2021.
"The way fans consume sports years from now will look drastically different, and it will be due in part to forward-thinking collaborations like our expanded relationship with the NFL today as an official sports betting and exclusive daily fantasy sports partner," DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said in a league statement. "We share the same vision as the NFL on fan engagement and believe this agreement will lead to new innovations that will ultimately enhance both the product on the field and on the screen."
