FanDuel Sportsbook said March 2 it will offer livestreaming of National Hockey League games within its mobile wagering app. The offer is part of its partnership with streaming and data firm IMG Arena.
The app will include up to two livestreams each day through the end of the regular season. The games will be available for “customers who have a funded sportsbook account or placed a wager on the event.”
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told ESPN that a deal like this was a natural progression of the league’s partnerships when it comes to sports betting.
“Once we made the jump to allowing our brand to be associated with sports betting companies, this was not a far leap. We’re supplying footage, we’re supplying feeds of our games,” he said.
FanDuel betting sites are available in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Indiana and West Virginia, but that does not mean the most popular teams in those regions will end up streaming their games since FanDuel has to abide by local and national broadcast blackout restrictions. Instead, the streams will include out-of-market teams.
The FanDuel deal came together after IMG Arena obtained the rights to provide legal U.S. sports betting operators with livestreams of select games. That firm has been combining live games with live wagering in Europe for some time, mainly for soccer and tennis.
Tennis was FanDuel’s first foray into this space, having streamed the Australian Open for the past two years while offering in-match wagering.
“As we continue to innovate and expand nationwide, the ability to further enhance the live game and live betting experience is increasingly important to our customers,” said Niall Connell, general manager and senior vice president, FanDuel Group.
The NHL has secured deals with a handful of sportsbook partners. In addition to FanDuel, the league has agreements with MGM and William Hill.
The NHL’s deal with MGM will include access to puck and player tracking data once the league gets that system up and running, which could lead to a variety of different types of in-game wagers.
Will FanDuel go that route along with livestreaming?
“The player and puck tracking data is subject to a different agreement. We have baked that into our MGM agreement, but we haven’t baked it into any other agreement,” Daly said.
