Gambling and fantasy sports company the FanDuel Group has announced a historic streaming partnership with the National Hockey League (NHL).
The partnership, which expands the NHL’s presence in the US sports betting landscape, will see FanDuel Sportsbook, the company’s online sports betting platform, offer live-streaming of up to two regular-season NHL games within its mobile wagering app.
These streams will now be offered daily in states where online sports betting is legal for the remainder of the season, with the out-of-market games set to be solely available to ‘customers who have a funded sportsbook account or placed a wager on the event’.
Bill Daly, NHL deputy commissioner, told ESPN: “Once we made the jump to allowing our brand to be associated with sports betting companies, this was not a far leap. We’re supplying footage, we’re supplying feeds of our games.”
The deal was made in conjunction with IMG Arena, the sports betting subsidiary of the IMG agency, which recently announced secural of the rights to provide US sports betting operators with live streams of select NHL games.
Niall Connell, general manager and senior vice president at FanDuel, added: “As we continue to innovate and expand nationwide, the ability to further enhance the live game and live betting experience is increasingly important to our customers.
“Our goal is to become a one-stop shop for all sports and betting content, and live-streaming professional sports like hockey is one of the many ways we are reaching that goal.”
Regarding the games which are set to be streamed, FanDuel Sportsbook is currently available in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Indiana, and West Virginia. However, the most popular teams in those regions are not touted for an appearance on the app due to local and national broadcast blackout restrictions that FanDuel must adhere to.