A marketing agreement
FanDuel has entered an agreement with the Associated Press (AP) that will see the sports betting operator become the exclusive odds provider for the non-profit news agency. This partnership begins with immediate effect.
No details of the financial compensation that AP will receive from FanDuel as part of this marketing agreement have been made public. However, Axios reported that AP will not accept direct affiliate payments as part of the deal.
AP has emphasized that it will still have full editorial control of all its content.
Specifically, odds from the FanDuel Sportsbook will be a part of the daily sports fixtures on AP, as well as in game previews, recaps, and other sports stories where the insertion of betting odds would be relevant. AP has emphasized that it will still have full editorial control of all its content.
FanDuel widgets will also integrate with the AP sports page and help to distribute certain FanDuel content through the AP wire. Hyperlinks will direct readers to the homepage of the FanDuel sportsbook, but there will be no links to specific pages or betting markets.
The reasoning behind the deal
AP global director of text and new markets products Barry Bedlan spoke about how as sports betting has become more common, more and more AP customers have been asking for the integration of betting odds. He said: “It makes sense to work with one of the largest reputable sportsbooks in the United States to provide a consistent, credible reference point for AP and its customers.”
Bedlan also noted that AP has been integrating betting odds into its stories for at least 30 years, but the odds now have more context.
Speaking about this new partnership, FanDuel Group general manager and vice president of content Adam Kaplan said that AP is a globally-recognized leader for trustworthy news and this makes the news agency “the ideal source for us to disseminate our industry-leading sportsbook’s proprietary odds and content.”
A constant state of expansion
FanDuel is one of the biggest operators in the ever-growing online sports betting market in the United States. It currently has online sportsbooks live in ten states and online casinos in four states. Gambling group Flutter Entertainment is FanDuel’s majority owner.
A few weeks ago, Flutter announced that FanDuel CEO Matt King would be departing his role after four years at the helm. He will remain with the company until Flutter finds a replacement. Flutter has reportedly been considering spinning off FanDuel and taking the company public as a separate entity. However, the departure of King could delay those proceedings.
In addition to the deal with AP, FanDuel also has partnerships with numerous other media organizations, including NBC, Hulu, Audacy, CBS, and Turner Sports. It also has relationships with major sports personalities like Charles Barkley, Pat McAfee, and Cousin Sal.