Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with most sports fans unable to attend games in person even after leagues returned to play, sports betting operators thrived in 2020.
DraftKings (DKNG) went public on April 24 by merging with a SPAC, and its shares are up more than 200% since. Shares of FanDuel parent company Flutter (PDYPY) are up 62% in 2020; shares of Penn Gaming (PENN), majority owner of Barstool Sports, are up 262%. All of this despite U.S. sports hitting pause for four months.
MORE: Betting companies defined the year in sports business
The ongoing race between betting companies is well illustrated by the parade of team partnerships they’ve announced.
DraftKings and FanDuel in particular, which unsuccessfully tried to merge in 2017, have gone head-to-head in their efforts to rack up pacts with pro teams, though MGM has rapidly ramped up its team deal signing through its BetMGM brand. FanDuel, in June, nabbed the first “official sports betting partner” deal in the NFL with the Denver Broncos; other teams followed suit. MGM, unsurprisingly, has racked up deals with Las Vegas-based teams.
Each of these deals looks a little different: some are exclusive (like MGM’s deal with MLS), some are not (the Detroit Pistons signed deals with both DraftKings and FanDuel); some only cover daily fantasy sports (see FanDuel’s deal with the New York Jets), some only include betting (FanDuel’s deal with the PGA Tour), but most include both.
Betting brands are poised to continue going head-to-head in signing team partnerships. Yahoo Finance will track all their team deals here and keep this post updated as new deals are announced.
This tracker was last updated on Jan. 27, 2021.
DraftKings league deals
MLB: DFS (exclusive partner); sports betting
NASCAR: DFS; sports betting
NBA: sports betting
NFL: DFS (exclusive partner)
PGA TOUR: DFS; sports betting
Premier Lacrosse League: sports betting
DraftKings team deals
NFL:
Dallas Cowboys: DFS
New England Patriots: DFS
New York Giants: DFS; sports betting; casino partner
Philadelphia Eagles: DFS; sports betting
NBA:
Boston Celtics: DFS
Charlotte Hornets: DFS
Detroit Pistons: DFS; sports betting; casino partner
Indiana Pacers: DFS; sports betting
New York Knicks: DFS; sports betting
Philadelphia 76ers: DFS; sports betting
MLB:
Chicago Cubs: DFS; sports betting
Colorado Rockies: DFS; sports betting
NHL:
Nashville Predators: DFS; sports betting
New York Rangers: DFS; sports betting
FanDuel league deals
NBA: DFS (exclusive partner); sports betting
MLB: sports betting
NHL: DFS (exclusive partner); sports betting
WNBA: DFS
PGA Tour: sports betting
FanDuel team deals
NFL:
Carolina Panthers: DFS
Denver Broncos: DFS; sports betting
Indianapolis Colts: DFS; sports betting
New York Jets: DFS
Washington Football Team: DFS
NBA:
Brooklyn Nets: DFS
Chicago Bulls: DFS; sports betting
Detroit Pistons: sports betting
Memphis Grizzlies: DFS; sports betting
MLB:
Chicago White Sox: DFS; sports betting
New York Yankees: DFS; sports betting
MLS:
DC United: DFS; sports betting
WNBA:
New York Liberty: DFS
BetMGM league deals
NBA
MLB
NHL
MLS (exclusive)
PGA Tour
NASCAR
WNBA
BetMGM team deals (all are for sports betting)
NFL:
Denver Broncos
Detroit Lions
Las Vegas Raiders
New York Jets
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tennessee Titans
NBA:
Philadelphia 76ers
MLB:
Washington Nationals (exclusive)
NHL:
Detroit Red Wings
Vegas Golden Knights
WNBA:
Las Vegas Aces (exclusive)
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Daniel Roberts is an editor-at-large at Yahoo Finance and specializes in sports business. Follow him on Twitter at @readDanwrite.
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