Fanatics Begins Streaming NFL Games In Sports Betting App


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NFL betting

Tonight’s Thursday Night Football matchup between the New York Giants and the San Francisco 49ers is streaming on the Fanatics Sportsbook app, as long as NFL betting occurs, according to a promotion on its website.

When at least $1 of NFL betting occurs, Fanatics Sportsbook users in Massachusetts, Maryland, Ohio, and Tennessee gain access to an in-app stream of their bet’s corresponding game, provided it is also broadcasted in their local market. Though Fanatics has not formally announced the feature, they have streamed games in-app since Week 1, according to a source familiar with the offering.

Fanatics joins Caesars in NFL streams

Sources confirmed the Fanatics streams are powered through a partnership with Genius Sports, the exclusive rights holder of the NFL’s official league data. Last year, Caesars Sportsbook became the first betting app to stream NFL games thanks to a similar deal with Genius.

Genius also has deals with DraftKings and FanDuel, which could offer their own NFL game streams later this season.

In-app streaming is not available on “PointsBet, a Fanatics experience”, which was rebranded in September after Fanatics acquired PointsBet’s US assets for $225 million.

Augmenting games with NFL betting

Genius Sports CEO Mark Locke has been vocal about what streaming alignment between the NFL and betting apps could mean.

The company plans to “deliver the most compelling sports betting experience available across the U.S.,” he said in a release tied to the Caesars announcement. That includes offering bettors an augmented live betting experience as they watch games through the apps, though there are still some kinks to work out.

Live betting is considered one of the next frontiers for US sportsbooks, which have increasingly worked to bring dynamic odds during games as close to real-time as possible.

There is no data available for Fanatics’ streams yet. Last year, Caesars reported that its stream of a December Monday Night Football game between the Indianapolis Colts and Dallas Cowboys was approximately one minute ahead of the Peacock stream of the official NBC broadcast, based on unofficial testing.