Daily fantasy sports operator Draft Kings has signed an agreement that will soon see it begin offering customers the ability to view live Euro League basketball games utilizing its iOS and Android-enabled mobile app. July saw Draft Kings become the official fantasy partner for the 16-team Euro League, which is known as the Turkish Airlines Euro League for sponsorship reasons, and the Boston-headquartered firm explained that it hopes to launch the new live-stream basketball service for United States and Canada-based clients ‘by the first quarter of 2018’.
Draft Kings stated that the agreement means that its mobile users will soon be able to ‘seamlessly toggle between fantasy contests and live content’ while it is moreover planning to begin offering its global customer base the ability enjoy daily fantasy sports competitions featuring Euro League players from Tuesday. In announcing the deal, Jason Robins, Chief Executive Officer for Draft Kings, declared that his firm was ‘testing the waters’ and will be providing mobile consumers with the ability to view one complimentary live Euro League game every week or enjoy multiple contests by ‘playing in a $3 and above’ contests.
“Our goal is to become the one-stop destination and mobile companion for sports fans globally,” read a statement from Robins. “Adding a live streaming component allows us to provide the best and most seamless product for our customers. This is what the future of sports looks like.” Tracing its origins back to 1958, the Euro League is one of the most popular professional basketball competitions in the world with its average attendances only bettered by North America’s National Basketball Association (NBA). Its 2017/18 season kicked off on October 12 while Jordi Bertomeu, President and Chief Executive Officer for Barcelona-based operator Euro League Basketball SL, welcomed the Draft Kings deal before describing the firm as a ‘forward-thinking partner’.
“Combining fantasy with live-streamed games is a perfect match, not only for the countless passionate Euro League fans we have already but for the many new ones who will now discover our unique brand of basketball through Draft Kings,” read a statement from Bertomeu.
