NFL Network reporter Kay Adams prepares to broadcast outside Lambeau Field during the NFL. … [+]
During the week of the Super Bowl in February, then-FanDuel chief marketing officer Mike Raffensperger met with Kay Adams, the popular host of NFL Network’s Good Morning Football program.
Adams at the time knew she was voluntarily leaving the show following the NFL draft and was open to considering opportunities she could pursue. .
The two joined forces as Adams began hosting her own show on Sept. 6 on FanDuel TV, a cable channel known until this month as the horse racing network’s TVG. Both FanDuel and her TVG are owned by her Flutter Entertainment plc, an Ireland-based company whose shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange.
The rebranding represents Flutter’s desire to drive more business into FanDuel, which posted its first quarterly profit in the second quarter of this year. Flutter pointed out in a presentation to investors last month that FanDuel has his 51% market share of total gaming revenue share in the states it operates. However, the company faces competition in the US from DraftKings, BetMGM and a number of other sports betting operators that spend heavily on acquiring new customers.
While Adams’ programming primarily airs football and other mainstream sports from 11 a.m. to noon on weekdays, FanDuel TV still mostly broadcasts live and recorded horse racing, a sport with a long tradition of betting. broadcast exclusively.
FanDuel also signed a licensing deal with Sportradar to broadcast over 3,000 hours of live sports from overseas, including basketball from Australia, China, France and Germany. Additionally, the company was founded by former NFL punter and sports media star Pat McAfee and former ESPN star Bill Simmons in 2016, and four years later he sold it to Spotify for more than $200 million. We also have a contract with another company, Salinger. FanDuel has already signed marketing deals with McAfee and The Ringer, but did not provide details on what kind of shows McAfee and The Ringer will produce or how often those shows will air.
For now, viewers of TVG won’t find much different than the renamed FanDuel TV, but Raffensperger added Adams and other well-known sports media talent to cover events other than horse racing. By doing so, we hope the broadcasters will expand their reach. Much of the content will be broadcast on his FanDuel+, his platform for over-the-top streaming available for free to anyone with a FanDuel account.
“We show horse racing, we show really engaging conversational shows hosted by really great talent, we do other live sports in the form of international basketball and things like that, so we definitely have a good foundation. FanDuel And the possibility of betting on us when you bet,” said Raffensperger.
FanDuel has no plans to pursue major streaming deals with established US professional leagues. Instead, we focus on niche sports in the US and other countries. In some deals, sports leagues and/or teams share the proceeds when viewers place bets on games using his FanDuel app or website.
Raffensperger, who was promoted to FanDuel’s chief commercial officer in July, said: “FanDuel is about making really creative deals that showcase your sport in front of millions of avid sports fans and build things in a way that shares the growth benefits of that sport as well. I think it offers a unique opportunity, from a betting perspective.”
Raffensperger added that Flutter hopes the FanDuel TV brand will also help increase sponsorship and partnership revenue.
“Companies are trying to reach a predominantly young, affluent, tech-savvy male audience,” said Raffensperger. “It’s a very attractive demographic that they have historically reached through free-to-play games and brand bets and brand odds boosts. It represents a new platform for reaching our audience in a different way.”
Former Fox Sports programming executive Patrick Crakes, who now runs his own consulting firm, says a rebrand makes sense for Flutter as it seeks to grow its betting market share. .
“I think it makes sense,” Krakes said. “We’re taking a profitable business[at TVG]and rebranding it to get rid of the marketing. They are in a great position to grow their business and roll up (other sports betting operators) when the game is overextended.”
For Adams, joining FanDuel TV provided the opportunity to work in a startup-like environment. About ten years ago, when she was one of the original hosts of her SiriusXM fantasy sports station, and six years ago when she helped launch “Good Morning Football.” reminds me of
Adams said FanDuel has given her the flexibility to work on potential projects with NFL Media and other sports media entities while working on her daily shows. But for now, she’s focused on improving the show and assessing what’s working and what’s not.
“The first day[of Good Morning Football]was fine, but the 30th day was not,” Adams said in an interview earlier this month. “There’s something about that process that I really like. After six years at Good Morning Football, I’m really happy with what I’ve done. I’m really proud of it. I loved it, but , I’m really excited about what’s going on with FanDuel.It’s similar in that way.I’m not a pioneer, but more often than not I’m not an idiot.I know where the sport is going and I’m interested. .”