Fan Duel, DraftKings Ramp Up Their Content Play
Last Wednesday at the worldwide headquarters of Topps, media types from outlets big and small gathered to talk to San Francisco Giants star Buster Posey as he talked about his new role as ambassador with the company, as well as the no-hitter he had caught the night before. The usual suspects were there for a piece of Posey, Sports Illustrated, Yahoo, AOL Sports and Fan Duel.
Wait, Fan Duel? Was there a pay fantasy element involved? Nope, but Brandon Lee from the company’s news site, was there asking questions about the no-hitter and the world of trading cards, with nary a fantasy question being bandied about. Why? Good content to keep the die-hard fantasy player more engaged on the site, and through search, to probably pull in more casual fans interested in news for now, but maybe, just maybe, they will become brand loyal enough to join in for a paid daily game or two down the line.
It is a strategy that Fan Duel Insider is embracing more and more, and as expected is also being taken on more and more by DraftKings, who, according to a weekend story in the Boston Globe, have made a huge push in hiring their own editorial staff for their content platform, Playbook, just for the same purpose; provide original non-fantasy content that feeds the needs of the fan while keeping the core player interested and on the site just a little bit longer. Engaged core players may play a bit more, while new fans may come back.
Now this is not to say that the core news and information on both sides won’t be tied to analytics and the core gamer and fantasy news. Providing that audience with core news that helps them address fantasy issues is still tantamount. However, fantasy players cannot live by stats alone, so feeding in additional anecdotal news, video highlights and original content lifts the interest and the engagement of the anyone with an affinity to sports news. The other thing such news may do will keep engaged consumers on the site, versus going to traditional news sites like ESPN or Yahoo or SI.com for the non-fantasy information. If you can hold their attention, the better chance of building more engaged audiences for things other than fantasy.
The expansion into original content follows some of the other larger marketing initiatives that both companies have used to gain the attention of the consumer. While not into boxing per se, Fan Duel spent money to sponsor Floyd Mayweather Jr., while Draft Kings cashed in on a somewhat unconventional spend against the Belmont Stakes, grabbing great exposure in places like the cover of Sports Illustrated with their signage. Neither spoke directly to the core pay fantasy audience, but it helped remind casual fans that the companies are engaged on the business of sports, albeit mostly in the pay fantasy business.
Will such investments pay off? According to the Globe article, since a redesign in March, average page views per visit have increased 52 percent and time on the site is up 152 percent for Draft Kings, while Fan Duel’s insider content has also seen a spike in visits. Neither can say yet if that spike has led to more pay fantasy money being spent, but the feeling is probably more eyeballs more of a chance of engagement. The use of news content is also much more cost-effective than some of the other high ticket promotions and ad spends the company has done, and with partners coming on board more prolifically; ESPN and MLB with DraftKings, the NBA with FanDuel, the ability to share content and gain traffic is probably just a bit easier, especially if their staffs can become accredited members of the media with the ability to gain content at events. That content would probably include unique video, which remains king for drawing audiences.
So while you will probably continue to see ore on the sponsor spend side than on the news gathering side for both, or any, fantasy sports company, it is interesting to see how important well-rounded and expansive content is becoming as the battle for casual engaged consumers heats up across the summer.
