Daily fantasy sports operator FanDuel has purchased branding rights on boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s trunks for his fight against Manny Pacquiao on May 2.
On Thursday, EPSN reported that FanDuel had purchased the rights to have its name on the belt line of Mayweather’s trunks. FanDuel didn’t disclose how much it paid to get that close to Floyd’s crotch but the deal comes with six tickets to the fight, valued at $10k apiece, that will be given away in pairs to the winners of three upcoming fantasy contents. The winners of these contests will also receive free hotel, airfare and a meet-and-greet with Floyd himself.
FanDuel hasn’t been shy about spending its investors’ capital on pricey sports tie-ups. This week the company announced it had pushed the number of mutli-year sponsorship agreements it has reached with National Football League teams to 15 and another deal with the Chicago Bears is in the works. FanDuel’s rival DraftKings has a comparatively paltry three NFL deals.
However, the NFL’s vehemently anti-betting stance means FanDuel’s deals don’t come with the visibility FanDuel would have preferred. While FanDuel will enjoy stadium signage, radio and digital advertising, NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told USA Today that FanDuel’s deals are similar to deals teams have struck with casinos – no NFL team logos or adverts on FanDuel’s website and FanDuel can’t identify itself as an ‘official’ team or league sponsor.
Major League Baseball recently named DraftKings – in which MLB holds an undisclosed equity stake – the league’s ‘official daily fantasy game.’ McCarthy said the NFL wasn’t interested in reaching a league-wide deal with any DFS operator. They don’t call it the No Fun League for nothing.
