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Fox Bet Debuting MLB-Approved Game During Playoffs

The Fox Bet sportsbook joint venture that has promoted its Super 6 free-to-play prediction game on NFL and college football broadcasts will roll out an MLB-approved game in time for today's ALCS Game 3 on FS1. Toronto-based Fox Bet has signed on as an authorized gaming operator of MLB in a multiyear deal that includes use of MLB’s real-time official data feed along with rights to use league and team logos on its sportsbook app and website, clearing the way for it to promote its contests during the ALCS and World Series this season. Fox Bet becomes the fourth sportsbook in the MLB authorized program, joining FanDuel, DraftKings and official status sponsor MGM Resorts Int'l. Fox Bet also is an NBA-authorized operator. Fox will promote the prediction game through one drop-in mention during each pregame show and again in each postgame show. The telecast also will include mentions of an MLB postseason bracket game sponsored by MGM, which is developing a free-to-play MLB game that will launch next season. “We think what Fox is doing with Super 6 is really good for engagement,” said MLB Exec VP/Gaming & New Business Ventures Kenny Gersh. “We think our product will be good for fan engagement in a more intense way while theirs is good in a light touch way."

DONE IN TIME FOR ALCS: MLB was deep enough into negotiations with Fox Bet operator The Stars Group that both it and Fox saw a benefit in closing the deal in time for the Astros-Yankees ALCS, which is tied at 1-1. Though mobile sports betting is not yet legal in New York, Fox Bet operates in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. “It made sense to get it done in time for the postseason so we can see if games like Super 6 actually drive people to the telecast and make it more interesting,” Gersh said. “It’s not going to be a huge ratings driver in the early years, but over time, that’s the sort of thing we’re looking for. How do you take gaming, whether it’s real-money betting or not, and use it to interact with the sport to make it more engaging for the fan?” The Stars Group recently made big news when it was acquired by Flutter, the global gambling company that also owns FanDuel. That deal awaits review by regulators in several countries. “We feel that we’re getting a critical mass of people to embrace what we’re offering, which is the tools to make better, more successful products,” Gersh said. “There are still some holdouts. But hopefully we’ll get there with them, and if we don’t, we’ll still have what I think will be the overwhelming majority of users in the U.S.”

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