‘Sports gaming is a great category’
New WWE-DraftKings partnership to offer WrestleMania pools
STAMFORD — Since 1985, WWE fans have cheered on their favorite stars in the company’s marquee annual gathering, WrestleMania.
Now, they will be able to compete, too, as they watch the action in the ring.
Stamford-based WWE announced this week that fantasy sports and sportsbetting powerhouse DraftKings would become its official gaming partner, a deal that comes a couple of weeks after the state announced a comprehensive sports-betting and online-gaming deal with the operators of the Foxwoods and Mohegan
Sun casinos.
Launching with free-to-play pool competitions during WrestleMania 37 on April 10-11, the partnership highlights WWE’s efforts to boost fan engagement after a year of closed-doors shows and the growing reach of DraftKings as gaming becomes a ritual for an ever-growing number of sports fans.
“Sports gaming is a great category for WWE and provides our fans another touchpoint for engaging with the WWE brand,” WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon said in an email. “Enabling fans to make predictions in their pools and then tune in to live matches takes fan excitement to another level. We hope to one day expand this partnership beyond (pay-per-view events) and into our weekly programming.”
A pool is a group betting competition in which the winnings are divided among the participants who make the correct picks.
In addition to the launch of pools contests, the agreement entails DraftKings receiving an exclusive license to media assets and in-game branding for WWE pay-per-view events such as WrestleMania.
Unlike other athletic events, however, WWE’s programs are scripted. Company officials said they have taken that dynamic into consideration in their design of the pools.
“WWE and DraftKings work very closely to determine the pool questions so that everyone can play along,” McMahon said. “The free-to-play aspect provides our fans with a fun way to get involved in our marquee events. Those pools aren’t just focused on winners and losers, but intricate details of matches which many times only come to light as part of live competition.”
The company will work with DraftKings to choose two or three matches as a focus of the pools for each pay-per-view and “NXT TakeOver” event.
There will be one pool for each night of WrestleMania 37. For “NXT TakeOver” during WrestleMania week, there will be pools on April 7 and 8.
Users will make picks for the questions in the pool for each match. Based on those picks, they will be able to win a portion of the pool’s cash rewards.
“Opportunities already exist to wager on practically anything. This deal, however, formalizes and legitimizes betting with a popular, known entity,” said Josh Shuart, director of sports management at Sacred Heart University’s Jack Welch College of Business & Technology. “When you dig deeper, you realize that this affiliation is chiefly about two things: expansion of freeto-play games and branding during pay-perviews.”
The rollout of the WWE-DraftKings partnership follows the March 18 announcement by the operators of Foxwoods Resort Casino and Mohegan Sun of a comprehensive agreement with the state on online gaming and sports betting. To be enacted, the pact will need the state General Assembly to pass supporting legislation.
Connecticut would levy a 13.75 percent tax rate on sports wagering, but state officials’ announcement of the agreement did not specify whether free-to-play competitions such as the WWE-DraftKings pools would constitute betting.
In their announcement, WWE and DraftKings said that their agreement is “subject to regulatory approval in all applicable jurisdictions.”
Last December, DraftKings announced a deal with Foxwoods. Three months earlier, it reached a “content integration” agreement with Bristol-based ESPN.
“As a cultural icon and incredible sports and entertainment company, we are thrilled to join forces with WWE and introduce its devoted fanbase to the DraftKings brand,” DraftKings Chief Business Officer Ezra Kucharz said in a statement. “This relationship helps fuel the engagement and drama of WWE’s signature matchups and storylines as audiences enjoy the second-screen experiences our products provide.”
Fans return for WrestleMania
WWE is launching the pools competitions a year after it temporarily barred fans from attending shows in person in response to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.
The lack of ticketed events has significantly affected WWE’s returns. Its 2020 revenues from live events totaled about $20 million, plunging from $126 million in 2019.
But WWE will welcome fans back for WrestleMania 37. About 25,000 are set to attend each of the event’s two nights at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.
WrestleMania will livestream on NBCUniversal’s Peacock platform in the U.S., and on WWE Network everywhere else. WWE announced in January a multi-year agreement that gives Peacock the exclusive streaming rights in the U.S. to the WWE Network.
Also this week, WWE and USA Network announced a multi-year extension for “NXT,” which will see the show that showcases rising stars move from Wednesday nights to Tuesday nights starting April 13. WWE and USA have partnered for nearly 30 years, with one of WWE’s flagship shows, “Raw,” airing Monday nights on USA.
“WWE’s success and long-term viability have long been tethered to the value of their broadcast rights,” Shuart said. “Because of that, the recent Peacock-WWE alliance was a major step forward in maintaining, and growing, viewership. Obviously, the company also makes money from merchandise sales and live events, but the focus remains squarely on the television rights.”