DraftKings acquires Bundesliga betting streaming rights in US

US daily fantasy sports operator and gaming company DraftKings has acquired live betting streaming rights to the Bundesliga, which made a high-profile return to action amid the global Covid-19 pandemic over the weekend.

All DraftKings Sportsbook customers with an account balance greater than $0.00 will be able to watch live games from the company’s mobile platform. At present, this will only be available for customers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Colorado, West Virginia and New Hampshire.

DraftKings acquired the rights from sports data and content company Sportradar, which bought the rights directly from the Bundesliga to license their live feed.

In November, DraftKings agreed a long-term extension to its partnership with Sportradar to supply a variety of official sports data feeds and bet stimulation content. Last August, the Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL) extended its engagement with Sportradar Integrity Services to protect against match fixing and betting-related corruption.

Sportradar sells the international betting rights to the Bundesliga, having agreed a four-season deal between the 2017-18 and 2020-21 seasons. The deal is global, excluding Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg.

Sportradar last week agreed a Bundesliga betting streaming rights deal in Brazil with Brazilian betting operator Betsul.

Additionally, for the first time, DraftKings is launching Bundesliga Daily Fantasy contests for customers across the globe.

DraftKings reported a 30 per cent lift in net revenue during its first quarterly report as a public company despite the heavy impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the sports industry, but the company’s financial totals missed analyst projections.

The Massachusetts-based company, which recently went public amid a three-way corporate merger, reported $88.5m in revenue for the quarter ended March 31, up by nearly a third from the same period in 2019, but below analyst expectations of about $98m. 

DraftKings also recently received investor support from billionaire financier George Soros, and he now comprises a lengthy roster of prominent industry executives and bold-faced names to back the company.