The NBA has signed a four-year deal with FanDuel that makes the company the league’s exclusive one-day daily fantasy partner and gives the NBA an undisclosed equity stake in the company. “We have been working on this deal for the past few months when the entire industry started to heat up,” said NBA President of Global Operations & Merchandise Sal LaRocca, who will sit on FanDuel’s BOD. “We have been looking at different ways to construct deals in this space and we thought the timing was right.” FanDuel CEO Nigel Eccles said that the NBA’s stake in the company is significant, but refused to disclose details. Other FanDuel investors include NBC Sports Ventures and Comcast Ventures. “The NBA were the ones who wanted to be a shareholder,” Eccles said. “What struck me about the NBA is that they wanted a true partnership.” It is the first league-wide deal for N.Y.-based FanDuel. The partnership calls for the company to launch the first “Official One-Day Fantasy Basketball Game of the NBA," a free game to be promoted on NBA.com and FanDuel.com with fans to compete to win daily prizes, include tickets and NBA merchandise. The deal also calls for the company to advertise on the league’s television partners in ESPN and Turner and other league assets such as NBA.com and NBA TV. FanDuel will add the Knicks and Mavericks as team deals, joining existing deals with the Bulls, Magic and Nets. The agreement comes just two days after the NHL announced its league-wide two-year deal with rival DraftKings.
