DraftKings has announced that that they have sign a deal with Major League Baseball (MLB) to act as one of the league’s authorized sportsbooks. It is the second major sportsbook to do so, with MGM Resorts International having come to a similar agreement last year.
The deal means that the sportsbook will be receiving official league data in order to create odds, instant feeds as well as additional live betting options. Part of the data includes tracking on stats such as a ball’s exit velocity, among others.
Speaking on the recent deal, MLB executive vice president for gaming Kenny Gersh stated that DraftKings has a new opportunity to introduce new ideas and trends in the sports betting industry with the data that they will now be provided.
Along with DraftKings, it was announced that FanDuel and Canadian gaming outfit The Stars Group are also in talks with the MLB to become official partners. It will be interesting to see when these two deals are finalized.
DraftKings To Introduce New Live Betting Format
In line with Gersh’s statement, DraftKings has been looking to innovate within the sports betting industry for some time. During this year’s Wimbledon finals, the sportsbook revealed a new Flash Bet system, which worked in allowing players to place bet on a specific point during each match at the major tennis tournament. This added so many new betting opportunities for DraftKings users.
The new system proved to be rather popular with Wimbledon with about 98% of Wimbledon bettors making at least one Flash bet. The success has given the sportsbook hope that they may soon be able to use it to offer additional live bets on football or baseball games. With the recent deal with the MLB, it certainly does seem as if baseball may be getting such a system soon.
