DraftKings EuroLeague Basketball Live-Streaming
DraftKings is finally doing something we’ve been waiting for one of the best DFS sites to do for a long time now: begin live-streaming sports online. DraftKings announced last week that they are going to begin testing the live streaming waters by allowing all customers to stream select EuroLeague basketball games within the DraftKings mobile app.
In a press release, DraftKings explained that they intend to provide live streaming of EuroLeague basketball games “by the first quarter of 2018” for US and Canadian customers. The initial plan is to give all customers one completely free live game each week, and multiple live games if customers play in a $3 or higher fantasy contest.
A statement from DraftKings CEO and co-founder Jason Robins reveals that the move to stream EuroLeague basketball games is just one part of a larger strategy to make DraftKings more than a simple fantasy site:
“Our goal is to become the one-stop destination and mobile companion for sports fans globally. 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.”
Within one app, DraftKings customers will be able to stream live games while also managing EuroLeague lineups and monitoring scoring outcomes. In other words, players will be able to watch EuroLeague games through the DraftKings app while simultaneously keeping an eye on their fantasy league results.
The DraftKings press release also explained that DraftKings will begin creating “original content” to support the EuroLeague product for fans. What they mean by original content remains to be seen, but a safe guess would be increased coverage of EuroLeague happenings on the DraftKings Playbook strategy and news portal.
EuroLeague Contests Coming to DraftKings
This move coincides with DraftKings’ addition of EuroLeague fantasy contests being available globally to all customers beginning November 14th.
The new EuroLeague games will run in the same basic format as NBA contests with players being given a $50,000 salary to draft six players. The same scoring rules used for NBA basketball will apply to EuroLeague as well. You can see DraftKings basketball scoring rules on our DraftKings Daily Fantasy Sports review.
DraftKings partnered with EuroLeague earlier this year to become the official daily fantasy partner of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague. As DraftKings continues to expand into additional markets, these types of deals are securing DraftKings as a more global DFS site than its chief rival, FanDuel.com.
Other Fantasy Sites in the USA Moving to Corner the NBA
In the midst of DraftKings’ international expansion, FanDuel.com has made moves to imbed itself into the NBA back home in the USA. Last month, the NBA announced that it will begin integrating a new fantasy points scoring system into NBA.com. The custom scoring system has also been adopted by five major DFS sites including FanDuel DFS, Yahoo Daily Fantasy, NBA InPlay, PlayON and Dream11.
With all five sites and the NBA itself sharing one scoring system, fans will find consistency across content published by the NBA as well as games offered by five DFS sites that offer NBA contests.
This relationship should prove beneficial to the NBA and each fantasy site involved in the shared scoring system. The NBA is likely to see increased engagement due to fantasy players tending to watch more basketball games when they participate in DFS contests. At the same time, the scoring system featured on NBA content will also bring greater visibility to fantasy sites.
However, DraftKings is not totally out of the picture back home. Just today, DraftKings and MSG Networks announced plans to produce the first live broadcast of an NBA game that combines traditional sports coverage with in-depth fantasy analysis during the game.
The MSG Networks will cover Monday night’s Cleveland Cavaliers vs. New York Knicks game with the standard broadcast and a secondary broadcast produced with DFS players in mind. In the secondary feed, DraftKings contributors and MSG hosts will offer live commentary discussing the game from a fantasy perspective.
The fantasy broadcast will be streamed live at MSG GO and televised on MSG+ with coverage beginning at 7:30 PM EST.
Wes Burns has more than a decade’s worth of experience as a writer, researcher and analyst in the legal gambling industry and is co-founder of BettingUSA.com. As a former professional online poker player, Wes approaches his work from the viewpoint of players.
