DraftKings, FanDuel Ramp Up Massive Ad Spends As Football Season Kicks Off

DraftKings and FanDuel "are in an all-out turf war ahead of the NFL season, quadrupling their ad spending this year in an attempt to sign up sports addicts willing to bet big bucks their sports know-how is greater than the fan’s next door," according to Claire Atkinson of the N.Y. POST. Together, the companies "are expected to have shelled out" $110M just on TV ads this year. An ad exec said that the two companies "are spending so much cash, they’ve effectively created a new category of advertiser." iSpot.tv data shows that DraftKings "has spent" $86.2M on TV ads since Jan. 1, while FanDuel "has spent" $23.8M through Sept. 2. Atkinson writes the marketing millions "appear to be paying off for the companies." Sources said that DraftKings "is signing up hundreds of thousands of customers a day." While the marketing effort "has been intense for weeks," it will get "even more saturated over the next week." People in N.Y. "should expect to see campaigns blanket everything from TV to satellite radio and billboards to garbage cans." In addition to TV, outdoor and radio, "some cash will be spent on digital ads." DraftKings CEO & co-Founder Jason Robins said, "The place we’re going most heavy is ESPN, which is a strategic partner. Fox Sports is another place and NFL Network." FanDuel CEO & co-Founder Nigel Eccles said his company has "increased (its) ad spend by three times" compared with last year (N.Y. POST, 9/4).