FanDuel was named a co-exclusive official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball on Thursday, giving the sportsbook the right to use official MLB branding across its portfolio of gaming products.
As part of the deal, FanDuel will also begin streaming MLB.TV’s free game of the day through both the FanDuel Sportsbook app and its OTT platform FanDuel+.
The move represents the latest “Bet & Watch” offering in what’s been a growing trend for U.S. sportsbooks as micro-betting increases in popularity. During the 2022 MLB season, pitch-by-pitch bets accounted for 40% of the handle received by the sportsbook clients of micro-betting leader Simplebet. That number was up even more in the playoffs.
Integrating live streams directly into sportsbook apps only makes it easier for people to bet on the action as its taking place.
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“Our team is eager to showcase FanDuel in nationally broadcast MLB games and help enhance game narratives and bring America’s Pastime directly into our mobile app and OTT platform for fans to watch and wager,” FanDuel president Christian Genetski said. “We’re also very excited about the opportunity to work together with MLB on new betting product innovations that will give customers the opportunity to enhance their experience on every pitch from March until October.”
FanDuel’s deal with MLB is similar to the one DraftKings announced in 2021 as a co-exclusive official sports betting partner, which also included a streaming integration into its own sportsbook app. In December, Caesars became the first sportsbook app to stream an NFL game. Simplebet reported a 150% betting increase year-over-year for the NFL playoffs, and an 84% increase in Super Bowl micro-betting over the rest of the postseason.
With those type of numbers, it seems to be just a matter of time until live streaming within sportsbook apps is the norm. Micro-betting is a major driver of that demand.
