Daily fantasy sports operator DraftKings has identified European technology provider Kambi as the supplier of its new single-game sports betting product.
Three weeks ago, DraftKings announced a sports betting partnership with Atlantic City’s Resorts Casino Hotel, which followed last month’s US Supreme Court ruling striking down the federal betting ban. But neither party offered any insight into where DraftKings would be getting its new sports betting technology.
On Wednesday, Kambi Group Plc announced that it had entered into a “sportsbook agreement” to “provide technology and services” to DraftKings. While the partnership will start in New Jersey, the “multi-year” deal allows for the possibility of an expanded partnership “when commercially agreeable regulatory frameworks are implemented” in other US states.
Kambi believes the DraftKings partnership could be lucrative in the long run, but the impact on its 2018 revenue will be “difficult to predict” due to the notoriously glacial pace of US regulatory change.
Kambi CEO Kristian Nylén expressed delight at having been selected to pop DraftKings’ single-game sports betting cherry, while humble-bragging that Kambi’s technology “is unique in that it empowers operators to innovate and create differentiated sports betting experiences, providing the flexibility which will be crucial in the developing US market.”
This is the second US-facing deal for Kambi, who last month announced a tie-up with Rush Street Interactive, the digital arm of casino operator Rush Street Gaming. That partnership has already resulted in Rush Street receiving an online gambling license in Colombia’s regulated market.
DraftKings recently embarked on a new fundraising round, looking to bolster its cash reserves by up to $200m to ensure it could adequately fund its expansion into sports betting.
Kambi suggested DraftKings’ sports betting offering was on track for an “imminent” launch in New Jersey. To date, only the Monmouth Park racetrack and MGM Resorts’ Borgata casino have launched sports betting in New Jersey, although numerous other casino operators have hinted that they will have their own sportsbooks up and running before this fall’s kickoff of the new National Football League season.
