Daily fantasy sports is coming to free-to-air audiences in Australia.
Reports recently surfaced that online betting operator CrownBet and News Corp Australia’s Fox Sports are negotiating a partnership with Seven West Media in hopes of bringing daily fantasy sports to free television. Now, The Australian is reporting that Seven West Media has finally signed the agreement.
Under the partnership, Seven takes a 33 percent stake in Draftstars, which was launched in March after CrownBet inked a deal with Fox Sports in time for the March 24 kickoff of the new Australian Football League season.
The three parties had been aiming to sign a partnership before the start of the AFL finals series.
Fox Sports has the subscription TV rights to the AFL and the National Rugby League, while Seven West Media holds the free-to-air AFL broadcast rights, according to the report. A deal with Seven West Media will potentially see Draftstars marketed “to huge free-to-air audiences during the finals series,” while Fox Sports will market and cross-promote the product with its AFL and NRL coverage. CrownBet, which holds the gambling license, is the official betting partner of the AFL.
“Our investment builds on our strategy of leveraging the power of our media assets to scale early-stage businesses,” said Seven CEO Tim Worner, according to the news outlet.
Associated Press to start carrying fantasy sports content
Meanwhile, news wire agency Associated Press is about to begin publishing fantasy sports content.
The global news organization recently signed a deal with Fantsy Sports Network, a television network dedicated 24/7 to fantasy sports, which will see the network provide fantasy content to the Associated Press, covering topics from free agent pickups to reviews of the weekend’s games.
“AP has increased its fantasy sports content for recent football seasons with its Fantasy Plays columns and fantasy points standings, but FNTSY provides a new level of expanded coverage to AP Sports sub-scribers,” said Barry Bedlan, AP’s sports products manager. “Fantasy is what drives some of the interest in certain sports, especially the NFL, and this arrangement will help us connect our
