Draftkings signs partnership deal on sportsbetting with Resorts Casino
News on 1 Jun 2018
News on 1 Jun 2018
Daily fantasy sports US market leader DraftKings, which has reportedly been working on a sportsbook offering for s0me time, has inked a partnership agreement with Atlantic City’s Resorts Casino with the goal of capitalising on the emerging legal sports betting market.
The Associated Press new agency reports that the partnership will focus on New Jersey, where legislative arrangements are already in preparation.
The deal follows the overturning of the restrictive Professional and Amateur ports Protection Act by the US Supreme Court, liberalising sports betting at the discretion of individual US states.
In an interview with AP, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said: “It’s a new thing, so people are trying to see how they want to go about it, who they want to partner with. Anytime you’ve got a big market about to be created, there’s so much opportunity out there that everyone should benefit, as long as you do it the right way.”
Morris Bailey, the owner of Resorts, welcomed the new revenue stream and called DraftKings “a dynamic brand.”
“The market is huge,” he said. “It’s how much of that market we’ll be able to get.”
Bailey is among those who strongly oppose the so-called “integrity fee” payments that the professional sports leagues are seeking, ostensibly to help them police betting on the games. The leagues all opposed sports betting and fought New Jersey in the court case that the state eventually won.
“It’s totally inappropriate,” Bailey said. “It’s the height of hypocrisy to take the position they did.”
DraftKings plans web-based and mobile operations, and will offer numerous in-game betting opportunities in addition to more traditional bets on the outcome of games, according to the AP report.
Robins said his company is best positioned to succeed in the new market and is “ready to go” as soon as it gets the green light from New Jersey regulators.
“We have a well-known brand that’s very closely identified with winning money on sports,” he said.
By pairing up with Resorts Casino DraftKings has positioned itself strongly in the new market following the news last month that Paddy Power Betfair has acquired rival American DFS giant and DraftKing’s rival FanDuel (see previous reports).
Other partnerships with sports betting ambitions include Churchill Downs, which reached deals with a tech company for its platform and the Golden Nugget casino in Atlantic City for its license in New Jersey. It bought Presque Isle Downs & Casino in Pennsylvania in March and owns two casinos in Mississippi, with plans to offer sports betting in all three states. And William Hill recently announced it is partnering with Atlantic City’s Ocean Resort Casino (see previous reports).
