The WNBA has announced a partnership with FanDuel that will bring major DFS action to the league for the first time.
Like all other professional sports leagues, the WNBA is looking for all potential methods of procuring return customers. WNBA daily fantasy games are the newest attempt to build interest in the product.
The league begins its 21st season on Saturday, and on Thursday an Associated Press story broke the news that FanDuel would feature WNBA contests. As the product is new not just to FanDuel but daily fantasy sports altogether, there is no cash involved in the contests.
There is no entry free required to play the games, and similarly the prizes aren’t cash. The prizes include tickets to games and merchandise. The configuration of the games is identical to FanDuel’s NBA contests in every other way, however.
Currently, only FanDuel is offering these contests out of the small group of robust DFS sites. DraftKings has stated that they are open to adding WNBA contests, and that might happen automatically if the DraftKings-FanDuel merger is approved by the FTC. While the contests create a new channel for WNBA promotion, the deal makes sense for FanDuel as well.
The WNBA regular season occupies a time that is thin on the major college/professional sports calendar. The NBA and NHL are wrapping up. College football, college men’s basketball and the NFL are all in their off-seasons. Because of this, the variety of contests on FanDuel during this time has been limited to MLB regular season contests along with a less-popular slate of soccer and golf games. Adding the WNBA creates a new category of contests for DFS players.
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While the lack of cash prize offerings may deter some DFS players, it’s possible that FanDuel could offer cash prizes at a later date if the contests become heavily played. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen, but what’s certain is that the WNBA has taken another step toward being included in the conversation of prominent sports leagues in the United States.