Daily fantasy giant DraftKings today announced partnerships with 12 NFL teams for the '15 season. Existing relationships with the Patriots, Steelers, Falcons, Cowboys, Broncos and Chiefs have been joined by alignments with the Panthers, Dolphins, Vikings, Giants, Raiders and Titans. In addition to gaining a variety of online and offline promotional assets, the NFL team deals also give DraftKings new fantasy sports lounges at AT&T Stadium, Gillette Stadium, and Arrowhead Stadium. The only NFL teams now not aligned with either DraftKings or chief rival FanDuel are the Saints, Seahawks, Cardinals and 49ers, a situation driven largely by current prohibitions against daily fantasy play for money in Louisiana, Arizona and Washington state. DraftKings will in part use the NFL team deals to help promote a $15M guaranteed fantasy football world championship, representing the largest daily fantasy contest of all time that includes a $5M top prize. "The sky is the limit for our partner teams and their fans this NFL season, as we we host the largest contest in daily fantasy sports history, join forces with ESPN to seamlessly bridge daily and season-long fantasy football, collaborate with Fox Sports on unique TV integrations and open in-stadium lounges at three outstanding facilities," said DraftKings CEO & co-Founder Jason Robins.
HERE COMES CONGRESS? The Washington Post today reports U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) has requested a House Energy & Commerce Committee hearing about the "relationship of fantasy sports to gambling," marking what could be the first step in "what is believed to be the first direct legal challenge to the exploding daily fantasy sports industry." Pallone wants to look at the "close ties between sports leagues and teams and the fantasy industry," including DraftKings and FanDuel. He told the Post, "Anyone who watched a game this weekend was inundated by commercials for fantasy sports Web sites."
