PlayON’s Global Crossover: New NBA-DFS Deal
Published April 21, 2017 by Lee R
Are all professional sports leagues going to sign DFS provider agreements?
A unique global professional league-DFS partnership has been announced.
The Deal
The agreement coming out of the Philippines has the National Basketball Association (NBA) and PlayON entering into a multi-year partnership for PlayON to serve as the Official Daily Fantasy Partner for the NBA in markets throughout Europe, Latin America and Asia.
Distribution
The agreement will kick in immediately, starting with the 2017 NBA Playoffs. Specific markets that PlayON is set to serve with Official Daily Fantasy NBA Games include UK, France, Spain, Italy and Germany in Europe; LatAm countries include Brazil, Mexico and Argentina; and new Asian Pacific markets being served by PlayOn will initially include Australia, Japan and the Philippines, with all gaming content further through localised language offerings.
Expansion
Avidly played by sports fans and punters in the United States and Europe, Daily Fantasy Sports platforms are rapidly expanding to new and emerging regions, with the PlayOn deal spurred by the wild popularity of the NBA worldwide.
The DFS Opportunity
NBA Global Partnerships President Salvatore LaRocca called the partnership “an opportunity to deepen our engagement with our international audience and bring these fans closer to the game.”
PlayON’s NBA Love
In expressing her organisation’s delight, PlayON founder and CEO Killian Jones called “the NBA’s global reach and daily fixture schedule.” Jones sees daily fantasy as a way “to deliver innovative sports entertainment experiences to basketball fans around the world.”
Free Play
Joining Official Daily Fantasy NBA Games at the PlayON website will be free, enabling players to pick new fantasy teams and bet on those teams according to the performance of the team members on the day of the competition.
Current Landscape
This deal comes on the heels of PlayON’s existing DFS provider deal with golf’s European Tour in golf, which until now was the only official partnership for what is actually one of the most popular DFS sports today.
Forecast
Look for more professional leagues to sign DFS provider agreements very soon.
