DraftKings is not content to rest on the accomplishments of becoming one of the biggest legal betting operators in the US. It has launched a new deal with the UK’s Norwich City Football Club to prove it.
The sponsorship will see the US sports betting giant advertised across all aspects of the soccer team’s operations.
That means “regular content and recognition of DraftKings throughout the Norwich City stadium, club website and social media,” according to the official press release.
Major Traffic
There’s no mention of a shirt sponsorship there, which would, of course, have been the biggest deal. But this could still see loads of international eyeballs on the DraftKings’ brand.
Two hundred and twelve countries broadcast Premier League football matches, with an estimated global audience of 600 million people a year. Of course, not all of those countries have DraftKings available to them.
But even back in the US, some 400,000 viewers a week tune in to EPL games. That’s down from a peak of 460,000 in 2019 – but it’s still impressive.
“Through our platform, sports fans can not only draft line-ups for the remainder of the season, but can also participate in daily contests, giving them more ways to show their pride and support for Norwich City and their players,” said Jeffrey Haas, Vice President of International Strategy at DraftKings.
Fates Up and Down
This deal will benefit the company internationally. However, DraftKings still has some way to go to catch up to traditional bookies in the UK market.
They first wanted to launch in the UK in 2015. That was when they only offered fantasy sports in the US, but they wanted to be a full online bookmaker (as Brits call it) in the UK market.
However, they mysteriously delayed that launch until 2016. They then only came out as a fantasy sports operator, and by all accounts, the business didn’t do too well.
During that time, they launched partnerships with soccer clubs Arsenal and Liverpool – two of the biggest names in the league.
However, the latest clubs they sponsor aren’t quite such big draws.
Norwich is certainly a venerable old club, but it currently sits in the bottom three places of the Premier League.
If it’s still there at the end of the season, it would mean a demotion to the second-tier Championship in 2022/23 – the league that the team won and got promoted from in 2021.
The other team DraftKings sponsors in the football league now is the Championship’s West Bromwich Albion.
It has had a similar fate to Norwich over recent years, regularly bouncing back and forth between the top tier and the second.
Both DraftKings and Norwich City FC remained upbeat about this new deal and the prospects for success, though.
“We’re excited to add DraftKings to our fantastic roster of partners this season. DraftKings is a huge brand in the States and we’re delighted the business has selected Norwich City to help support their growth in the UK,” said Norwich’s Commercial Director Sam Jeffrey.
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