In advance of the start of its 31st season tomorrow, the Arena Football League (AFL) has announced four new partnerships, nearly all of which relate to enhancing fan engagement via daily fantasy sports and sports betting.
“The partnerships we’re announcing today give fans a whole new range of ways to get in on the action of arena football,” said Ron Jaworski, Chairman of the AFL Executive Committee in a statement. “Today, we’re bringing fans even closer to the game by giving them access to more data, creating more intensity in each individual moment of the game and introducing some cutting-edge gaming options.”
Here’s what you need to know:
-DraftKings will be the league’s exclusive daily fantasy partner, launching an AFL fantasy game and streaming AFL games via the DraftKings app beginning with the 2019 season.
-Sportradar will develop a new API which will help in the distribution and licensing of data to potential AFL partners.
-Facebook will air 12 AFL games on Facebook Watch. It’s not clear from the release whether this will start with the 2018 or 2019 season.
-Vegas Stats and Information Network (VSiN) will produce pregame content that previews betting odds and trends and live content focused on in-game betting angles.
SportTechie Takeaway:
Ted Leonsis, owner of the NBA’s Washington Wizards, the NHL’s Capitals, and the WNBA’s Mystics, owns half of the AFL’s teams. He’s made it a point to help the league find a foot hold. And Leonsis’ venture fund, Revolution Growth, has significant investments in both DraftKings and Sportradar.
A decision on the legalization of nationwide sports betting could come from the US Supreme Court as early as next week. We think we know which way the AFL and Leonsis see the court ruling.