The NFL is headed into the new season with a trio of official sports betting partners, with one new name among them.
After SBC Americas reported last week that the league teamed up with Fanatics Betting and Gaming for a non-exclusive partnership, the NFL announced on Thursday, Aug. 27, that it has re-signed two of its previous official sportsbooks: DraftKings and FanDuel.
DraftKings and FanDuel both have been an official sports betting partner of the league since 2021. Their previous agreements expired after the 2025 season, but they have both now signed new terms.
In addition to sports betting:
- DraftKings will continue as the NFL’s official daily fantasy sports partner, a status held since 2019
- Fanatics also becomes an official online casino marketing partner of the league
“We are thrilled to have three world-class partners in the sports betting category,” said NFL EVP and Chief Revenue Officer Renie Anderson. “DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics share our vision for innovation and fan engagement, but most importantly, our commitment to protecting the integrity of the game. We look forward to navigating this next chapter in sports betting together.”
All three operators have signed a multi-year contract. No financial terms were disclosed.
How do sportsbooks benefit from NFL partnerships?
As official partners, they each gain the rights to use NFL marks within their respective sports betting offerings and to advertise during games. They also get a presence at the biggest events of the season, such as the Super Bowl and NFL Draft, as well as hospitality and VIP experiences, and they benefit from integrations across NFL-owned digital media properties.
DraftKings, Fanatics, and FanDuel can also access and use the league’s official real-time statistics, proprietary Next Gen Stats, and the BetVision interactive streaming platform through Genius Sports, the league’s exclusive data distribution partner.
At the time that the previous “tri-exclusive” DraftKings, FanDuel, and Caesars deals expired, media reports suggested that an increase in the price of Genius Sports data was a sticking point in renewal negotiations. That was never officially confirmed, and DraftKings and FanDuel have now re-signed. Caesars reportedly opted not to pursue a new partnership with the league.
“Working with the NFL allows us to put the DraftKings brand alongside the biggest games of the season, from Kickoff through the Super Bowl,” said DraftKings Chief Marketing Officer Stephanie Sherman. She added that the status as an official sportsbook of the NFL is particularly meaningful for DraftKings given its focus on live betting.
Fanatics gets casino benefits too
The NFL’s release on Thursday also confirmed that the deal with Fanatics Betting and Gaming expands the league’s existing relationship with the parent company. Fanatics and the NFL already worked together on collectibles and official league merchandise.
Through its additional status as an official online casino marketing partner, unlike DraftKings or FanDuel, Fanatics’ marketing benefits extend to its casino app as well as or instead of its sportsbook. Fanatics Casino gets access to league marks, a presence at league events, the ability to run promotions and contests hooked on the Super Bowl or the NFL Draft, and more.
“This deal underscores our vision for Fanatics as a true digital sports platform — a single destination where fans can bet, play and engage with the NFL all in one place, making the experience of being a fan better than ever,” said Fanatics Betting and Gaming CEO Matt King.
NFL, sportsbooks collaborate on integrity, betting markets
Meanwhile, as referenced by Anderson, the partner sportsbooks work together with the league in efforts to ensure sporting and betting integrity and prevent match-fixing.
The parties will collaborate on intelligence-sharing, advocacy efforts, and responsible gambling initiatives. The league emphasized that this also includes working together to ban bets that the league finds objectionable, including wagers related to officiating decisions, player injuries, and any markets that can be “easily knowable in advance” or easily manipulated by a single person.
NFL ‘not considering’ prediction markets deals right now
The NFL now has three official sportsbook partners in place. Could its next move be to follow other major leagues by signing official prediction market partners?
The NHL and MLB each have official agreements with Polymarket, with the hockey league also drafting Kalshi as a partner earlier this year. Both of those companies are now also official partners of NFL data provider Genius Sports.
While other leagues have stepped into the prediction markets realm while citing a desire to have some level of control over integrity and market availability, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said last December that “the risk to the brand is something that we take very seriously.”
Anderson told ESPN’s David Purdum that working with prediction markets is “not a space that we’re considering right now commercially.” ESPN added that the three new sportsbook partnerships do not cover each operator’s respective prediction market offering.
