“This Week In Daily” is LegalSportsReport’s weekly wrap of key facts, happenings and miscellany from the daily fantasy sports industry.
Stories of note
Here comes Yahoo
The marketplace for daily fantasy sports got even more crowded this week, as Yahoo announced its intention to join the DFS space.
The leader in seasonlong fantasy sports is now getting into the daily business, as the internet giant said it would launch a DFS product this summer during an earnings call about its first quarter.
The news could have wide-ranging effects on the DFS industry, including the possibility that Yahoo could instantly compete with the “big two” as soon as this NFL season. Yahoo has several inherent advantages over its competitors, including access to a convenient player base and advertising platforms. Almost instantly, FanDuel and DraftKings will lose an important advertising outlet.
Yahoo entering the market is clearly a game-changer. How much of an impact it will have on the DFS landscape remains to be seen.
Mayweather wearing DFS
This week, ESPN broke the news that Floyd Mayweather Jr. would be wearing a FanDuel logo on his trunks during his May 2 megafight with Manny Pacquiao.
We have no idea what it costs to get that privilege, but we’re certain that it doesn’t come cheap. As part of the deal, FanDuel will be offering several VIP tickets to one of the biggest boxing matches in history via daily contests.
It’s an interesting avenue for FanDuel, which has let DraftKings own the market for combat sports, after DK got a deal with the UFC, a mixed martial arts promoter. The deal gives FanDuel a prominent place in what will be one of the most-viewed sporting events on the planet. What kind of dividends will it pay? That remains to be seen.
FanDuel = winning
After solidifying deals with a number of NFL teams this week, it’s clear one DFS site has a leg up on the competition.
It had seemed like DraftKings had most of the momentum in its battle between the two industry heavyweights recently. But that was until this week, when FanDuel announced it now had deals in place with 15 of the NFL franchises, and was close to a deal with another. Those deals would give it a presence in half of the NFL stadiums, and a relationship that will pay dividends online, on TV and on radio.
It seems unlikely that the NFL, as a whole, will sign a deal with either site, or with anyone else, in the near future. The next best thing? Getting deals done with the teams. Advantage, FanDuel.
Of the week
Read(s) of the week
“Who Is No. 3 In Daily Fantasy Sports Behind FanDuel And DraftKings?”
This question became a lot more relevant this week with the news that Yahoo was entering the market. With Yahoo joining the DFS fray, it seems clear that the cost of player acquisition is only going to go up.
That might make it imperative for sites to carve out marketshare now, before Yahoo and the other new entrant, Amaya Gaming, get into the DFS business.
So who is No. 3 right now? The main sites that can make that claim are FantasyAces, Victiv and DraftDay. We’ll take a look at each of the sites in the coming weeks to try to provide a little clarity to the issue.
“Somehow, DFS Is Managing To Stay Off The Radar Of Gambling Opponents In Congress”
It’s an interesting phenomenon. Online gambling opponents are making a push to make iGaming illegal on the federal level, with the Restoration of America’s Wire Act. But daily fantasy sports continue to stay off the radar of conservatives who are against anything that smells like online gambling.
The reasons so far are unclear why this is, but it’s clearly good news for the industry to continue to enjoy its status as a skill game that isn’t lumped in with sports betting and other forms of gambling.
Tweet of the week
FanDuel purchases right to have its name on Mayweather’s trunks, will we see DraftKing’s on Pacquiao’s…? http://t.co/ZBpaBpCHLc
— Adam Krejcik (@akrejcik) April 23, 2015
Chart of the week
DraftKings gave a look at its demographics at the iGaming North America conference:
Number of the week
30 billion
The number of minutes that Yahoo seasonlong fantasy players spend playing fantasy sports annually, according to Yahoo CEO Melissa Mayer.
Photo by Ver en vivo En Directo used under license CC BY-SA 2.0.
