{"id":261028,"date":"2023-02-22T14:45:51","date_gmt":"2023-02-22T20:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=261028"},"modified":"2023-02-23T11:15:10","modified_gmt":"2023-02-23T17:15:10","slug":"draftkings-could-move-caesars-out-of-espn-deal-says-ekg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-could-move-caesars-out-of-espn-deal-says-ekg\/","title":{"rendered":"DraftKings Could Buy Caesars Out of ESPN Deal Says EKG"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been nearly three years since Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR) and DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG) each announced separate multiyear agreements with ESPN<\/em>. Now, it\u2019s possible DraftKings will expand that relationship, potentially buying out the casino operator to do so.<\/p>\n

\"DraftKings
An image for the DraftKings\/ESPN<\/em> partnership. The gaming company could expand that deal. (Image: Barrett Media<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

That idea was floated by research firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming (EKG) in the most recent edition of its EKG Line <\/em>report. Under the terms of the deals struck in September 2020<\/a>, the two gaming companies run advertising on ESPN.com, the most-visited sports website in the world, and on the ESPN<\/em> mobile application. Both link directly to their respective sportsbooks, marking the first time in US history such a deal had been reached.<\/p>\n

With the sports wagering landscape and how operators dole out marketing dollars rapidly evolving, the time could be drawing near for the ESPN <\/em>pacts to be altered.<\/p>\n

One logical path forward, in our view, was DraftKings buying out its co-exclusive partner Caesars to become the exclusive sportsbook partner of ESPN<\/em>,\u201d<\/strong> according to EKG.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The economics of such a move aren\u2019t known, because the financial terms of the aforementioned 2020 agreements weren\u2019t revealed.<\/p>\n

Win-Win for DraftKings, Caesars<\/h2>\n

On its recent fourth-quarter earnings conference call, DraftKings noted it’s taking a close look at team sponsorships, which could be an area for added cost reductions. However, CEO Jason Robins made clear the operator is bullish on its ESPN<\/em> partnership.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve really enjoyed that relationship and gotten a lot out of it,\u201d Robins said on the call. \u201cAnd we always talk to our partners about ways that we can improve and extend and grow the relationship. And Disney and ESPN<\/em> have been great partners thus far.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

For Caesars, moving on from the ESPN<\/em> relationship would help the casino behemoth accomplish the goal of realizing $200 million in reduced marketing expenses, which, in turn, could contribute to the objective of repeating or topping the $1.2 billion in debt<\/a> the company eliminated last year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

ESPN<\/em> wasn\u2019t mentioned on Caesars\u2019 fourth-quarter earnings call on Tuesday. But the gaming company noted its digital unit, which includes sports wagering, is closing in on profitability.<\/p>\n

DraftKings, ESPN Ties<\/h2>\n

Disney owns 6% of DraftKings<\/a> nonvoting equity, which the entertainment conglomerate got via its $71.3 billion takeover of 21st<\/sup> Century Fox in 2019. Disney is the parent company of ESPN<\/em>. That\u2019s just one point highlighting the relationship between the network and the gaming company.<\/p>\n

\u201cRoughly one-third of DraftKings digital advertising spend during Super Bowl week was attributable to ads run on ESPN.com, per Pathmatics,\u201d <\/strong>added EKG.<\/p>\n

Bolstering the relationship with DraftKings could serve the aim of expanding ESPN\u2019s <\/em>sports betting footprint. That could be useful at a time of executive change at Disney, and as newly returned CEO Bob Iger focuses his energy<\/a> on content and initiatives that are more important than sports wagering is to the broader Disney thesis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s been nearly three years since Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR) and DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG) each announced separate multiyear agreements with ESPN. Now, it\u2019s possible DraftKings will expand that relationship, potentially buying out the casino operator to do so. That idea was floated by research firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming (EKG) in the most recent edition […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":261030,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,1074],"tags":[81967,80968],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDraftKings Could Move Caesars Out Of ESPN Deal, Says EKG<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"DraftKings could move to buy Caesars out of ESPN pact, says research firm.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-could-move-caesars-out-of-espn-deal-says-ekg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DraftKings Could Move Caesars Out Of ESPN Deal, Says EKG\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DraftKings could move to buy Caesars out of ESPN pact, says research firm.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-could-move-caesars-out-of-espn-deal-says-ekg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-22T20:45:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-02-23T17:15:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ESPN.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@etfgodfather\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-could-move-caesars-out-of-espn-deal-says-ekg\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-could-move-caesars-out-of-espn-deal-says-ekg\/\",\"name\":\"DraftKings Could Move Caesars Out Of ESPN Deal, Says EKG\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-could-move-caesars-out-of-espn-deal-says-ekg\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-could-move-caesars-out-of-espn-deal-says-ekg\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ESPN.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-22T20:45:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-02-23T17:15:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"DraftKings could move to buy Caesars out of ESPN pact, says research firm.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-could-move-caesars-out-of-espn-deal-says-ekg\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-could-move-caesars-out-of-espn-deal-says-ekg\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-could-move-caesars-out-of-espn-deal-says-ekg\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ESPN.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/ESPN.jpg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"An image for the DraftKings\/ESPN partnership. 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