Going into next football season, DraftKings "may not repeat the marketing blitz that made it one of TV’s biggest advertisers during the opening weeks of the NFL season," according to Curt Woodward of the BOSTON GLOBE. DraftKings Global CMO Janet Holian, who was recently hired, said, "We had some goals for last year that we achieved, one of which was making sure that DraftKings was a household name. We may look at it and say that we’re going to invest a little bit differently this year. We probably don’t need to be quite as heavy out there in the market. I think that’s a positive thing.” Holian said that DraftKings "will probably begin offering its contests" in the U.K. by mid-February. She added that DraftKings was "happy with the results of its advertising" in '15, noting that the company "attracted 10 times more users in the NFL’s first week than it had" in '14 (BOSTON GLOBE, 1/18).
PULLING BACK: In North Dakota, Wade Rupard reported FanDuel ads at Univ. of North Dakota sporting events "are being removed." The ads were "part of a block sold through UND athletics' partnership with Learfield Sports." UND had a "partnership with Learfield, and Learfield had a relationship with FanDuel, which is why the signage was on display at the Alerus Center during football games and on boards at Ralph Engelstad Arena." Learfield's partnership with FanDuel "has now ended, so the ads will now stop." UND Associate AD/External Operations Kyle Doperalski said that ads running during sporting events on TV "have already stopped, and the signs at the Ralph will soon come down." Doperalski added that he "didn't hear any complaints about the FanDuel ad, and the university had no intention of pulling the ads" (GRAND FORKS HERALD, 1/17).
