- DraftKings has been named the ‘Official Fantasy Sports Partner’ of English Premier League soccer team Norwich City.
- The New York based sports betting and DFS company is making their first expansion into Europe.
- Daily fantasy sports has had only limited success outside of North America.
DraftKings has been very active as a sponsor and promotional partner of sports teams in the United States for years. This predated the fall of PASPA–back when they were exclusively a daily fantasy sports (DFS) website–and has continued as they’ve become one of the major players in the US sports betting industry. Now they’re trying to go global with an interesting twist on their US strategy–they’re trying to establish a market in England where sports betting is ubiquitous but DFS has had only limited success.
Like the old saying goes ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’. DraftKings has had plenty of success with their promotional strategy in the US and that’s no doubt why they want to reprise it in England. They’ve just been announced as the ‘Official Fantasy Sports Partner’ of English Premier League soccer team Norwich City. Known as ‘The Canaries’ by their supporters, Norwich City has inked a deal with DraftKings for the remainder of the 2021-2022 Premiership Season.
The terms of the deal are pretty basic–DraftKings will get branding throughout Norwich City’s Carrow Road stadium, as well as the club website and social media channels. The press release blurb even has a brief explanation of daily fantasy sports:
Norwich City Football Club is delighted to welcome DraftKings as the official fantasy sports partner of the club for the remainder of the 2021/22 Premier League season.
DraftKings Inc. is the leading global daily fantasy sports platform where sports fans can compete against each other based on player performances across 15 distinct sports categories, including the Premier League, Champions League, NFL, NBA, and more.
The partnership includes regular content and recognition of DraftKings throughout the Norwich City stadium, Club website, and social media.
Sam Jeffery, commercial director at Norwich City, expressed a good deal of enthusiasm over the addition of DraftKings to the team’s sponsor portfolio:
“We’re excited to add DraftKings to our fantastic roster of partners this season. DraftKings is a huge brand in the States and we’re delighted the business has selected Norwich City to help support their growth in the UK.
“As a club that concentrates on innovating the fan experience we’ll be working very closely with DraftKings to learn from their successes and look forward to the content we’ll be collaborating on to enhance the fans’ viewing enjoyment.”
Jeffrey Haas, senior vice president of international strategy at DraftKings, emphasized the goal of bringing daily fantasy sports to a new audience:
“We are excited to work with the entire Norwich City team to bring our industry leading daily fantasy sports experience to their supporters.”
“Through our platform, sports fans can not only draft lineups for the remainder of the season, but can also participate in daily contests, giving them more ways to show their pride and support for Norwich City and their players. We’re proud to work with a great club like Norwich City and look forward to our collaborative work to come.”
This space will be interesting to watch–DraftKings no doubt has designs on the insanely lucrative UK sports betting market. If they have success, you can expect other US based companies to follow a similar strategy.
