DraftKings will roll out a comprehensive horse betting marketing plan on Saturday for the Travers Stakes, engaging everyone from the TV viewer to the on-track player and the sports betting VIP.
The sports betting operator is the title sponsor of the New York Racing Association’s (NYRA) marquee summer race, the Travers, at Saratoga. The partnership deal comes with perks DraftKings plans to pass on to horse betting customers on DK Horse, which launched last year, and its high-volume sports bettors.
“We would have liked to sponsor the Travers last year, but we had no legs yet,” Johnny Avello, DraftKings director of race & sportsbook operations, told LSR Wednesday. “We wanted to wait to see how the first year went in 2023, and it went extremely well, so when we got into 2024, we knew the Travers was out there without a sponsor, which was a fit for us.”
VIP horse betting experience
In the past, DraftKings felt it was losing customers without a horse betting product. The addition of DK Horse, a white label of TwinSpires from Churchill Downs Incorporated, last year now provides that vertical.
As always, the challenge is attracting sports bettors and bringing them into racing, which has a steep learning curve and a less-than-favorable public perception. The partnership deal with NYRA allows DraftKings to showcase horse betting and bring its high-end customers across multiple verticals.
“We have a whole department of VIP hosts, and their customers are a mix of sports, horse racing and casino,” Avello said. “It’s an area we rely on, so when we have an event up at (Saratoga), we get a suite, we entertain those customers and show our loyalty to them.”
Sportsbooks push brand awareness
Multiple US sportsbooks are involved in horse racing, which has provided an extra avenue for brand awareness.
As critics bemoan the seemingly constant drumbeat of sports betting advertisements and operators look for ways to lower customer acquisition costs, Avello believes horse betting partnerships offer a unique opportunity.
“There is a strategy there,” he said. “We sponsored a race in March at Santa Anita since we have customers in California. So we get the name out there for that. Then, we sponsored the Acorn Stakes on Belmont Weekend in New York. We have a presence throughout the track and we’re pushing the product to make sure everybody knows what the heck DK horse is.
“You go to Saratoga, you see us there, you see us on the billboard, you see us in the paddock. Now, we’re sponsoring the Travers, the focal point of the summer. The way we’ve approached it, we’re there, you see us, you know us, and if you don’t, you can explore who we are. We’ve put ourselves in people’s minds.”
Horse betting sponsorships for sportsbooks
Caesars Sportsbook also recently sponsored a stakes race at Saratoga. FanDuel, a major player in the horse betting space, did the same.
Caesars takes a tactic similar to DraftKings at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club near San Diego for its high-volume sports bettors.
The sportsbook offers a high-end, luxury experience for certain bettors during the premier racing season on the West Coast.
Racing fans get perks, too
Sponsorships and media deals are not only for VIPs, though. DraftKings will also appeal to the average racing fan at the track on Saturday.
For the fifth time in 64 years, a filly will run in the Travers. Thorpedo Anna has won three consecutive Grade 1 races and to celebrate the occasion, her trainer, Kenny McPeek, plans to wear pink to the track.
“We’re passing out about 1,000 or 1,500 pink DraftKings hats on Saturday,” Avello said. “It’s another way to engage the public, even though they’re not sitting with us. We’ll pass out these hats to anyone with a DK Horse account before they walk in.”
Other horse betting media deals
In addition to the on-track branding, the Travers will be broadcast on national TV via FOX on Saturday afternoon. NYRA’s broadcast deal with FOX Sports gives the DraftKings brand more exposure to viewers watching at home.
“Horseplayers are watching FOX Sports across the country, which certainly helps because it is a great production,” Avello said. “The big days like Travers Day certainly have an impact because casual and frequent players are betting on races all day.”
DraftKings’ sponsorship of the race also provides Barstool Sports with a media set at Saratoga on Saturday. Barstool inked a sports betting partnership deal with DraftKings earlier this year after Penn Entertainment ended its arrangement with the media company.
