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 games of the day through both the FanDuel Sportsbook app and the OTT platform FanDuel+.
The move represents the latest “Bet & Watch” offering in what has been a growing trend for US sportsbooks as microbetting gains in popularity. During the 2022 MLB season, pitch-by-pitch betting accounted for 40% of the handle received by the sportsbook customers of microbetting leader Simplebet. That number increased even more in the playoffs.
Integrating live streams directly into sportsbook apps only makes it easier for people to bet on the action as it happens.
“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 bet,” said FanDuel President Christian Gene skiing. “We are also very excited about the opportunity to work with MLB on new game product innovations that will give customers the ability to enhance their experience at every pitch from March through 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% year-over-year betting increase for the NFL playoffs, and an 84% increase in Super Bowl microbetting during the rest of the postseason.
With those kinds of numbers, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before live streaming in sportsbook apps is the norm. Microbetting is an important driver of this demand.
