Almost two years ago, Jed Kelly, an analyst at Oppenheimer, floated the notion that DraftKings was bound to get into the streaming wars.
Some 10 months later, the sportsbook hired a pair of former television executives, lending credence to Kelly’s idea.
“I think what they’re trying to do is build a fan interactivity platform,” Kelly told Sports Handle at the time. “They want to potentially get into streaming, and these hires make sense after last year’s hiring of Brian Angiolet from Verizon to be the chief media officer. Streaming is a great way to drive more engagement, I think they’d eventually love to get Tier 1 sports rights.”
And now, according to a Bloomberg report, the sportsbook is launching its own streaming service, called the DraftKings Network.
DraftKings is planning to launch its own streaming video service https://t.co/RcdYD8ctgT
— Bloomberg (@business) April 26, 2023
The service, according to the article, will be ad-supported and free to viewers. It will officially launch sometime in the next few weeks, although it appeared it was already up and running late Wednesday evening on the DraftKings Nation website. Some of the shows being featured include The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz, The GoJo Show, and Baseball is Dead.
.@DraftKings’ new 24/7 streaming service, DraftKings Network, is now live online. It appears it will start with content from podcasts like @LeBatardShow and @GoJoShow.
DK calls this the “initial rollout.” pic.twitter.com/7Or9HZHiel
— Eben Novy-Williams (@novy_williams) April 27, 2023
“Over the years DraftKings has expanded our media footprint by securing top talent and trusted personalities across sports media, and we’ve begun the initial rollout of DK Network,” a company spokesperson told Bloomberg in a statement.
Podcasts, and more podcasts
For now, don’t expect any of those “tier 1” sports. According to the article, the network’s programming will initially consist of videos of podcasts the company already produces.
It’s also been two years since DraftKings purchased VSiN, though the article doesn’t state whether some of that programming will be folded in.
DK Network will give FanDuel TV some competition. FanDuel TV, which launched last September, recently struck a deal with The Ringer to air some of its podcasts.
Photo: Getty Images
