Posted on: November 29, 2024, 05:29h.
Last updated on: November 29, 2024, 05:32h.
Today’s announcement of a sponsorship deal between FanDuel and the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) left one question: What took so long?
Official Sportsbook Partner
The league’s sophomore season kicks off tomorrow. An audience of 2.9 million viewers watched the first PWHL game on New Year’s Day 2023 across Canadian national television. Then there was the “Battle on Bay Street”, Toronto hosting Montreal at Scotiabank Arena on March 3, with 19,285 in attendance, the largest crowd ever for a women’s hockey game.
FanDuel today announced they’ve become an Official Sportsbook Partner of the PWHL and exclusive In-app Streaming Partner of the league on the FanDuel app.
PWHL Season Kicks Off Tomorrow
Since that launch last January, the PWHL announced deals with Airsupra, Canadian Tire, Intact Assurance, Scotiabank, Shark, Ninja and Woody Creek Distillers as founding partners, Air Canada, Bread Financial, Royale as inaugural premier partners, and a long list of companies as official partners – Aeroplan, Barbie, Bauer, CCM, Esso, EA Sports, Gatorade, Hyundai, Molson, Goodlife, Pizza Pizza, Rogers, Tim Hortons, and among others.
A sportsbook partner was late getting to the party. With all the buzz coming out of the gate, and the number of big corporations coming aboard, it did surprise industry observers that there wasn’t a sportsbook sponsor of the PWHL.
I’m really surprised it took as long as it did for the PWHL to find a gambling partner,” said industry consultant Aly Lalani. “I totally appreciate that the customer demographic may not be aligned with those of a traditional sportsbook, but what it lacks in immediate ROI potential it more than makes up for in credibility building value.”
Impact on female sports betting
One marketing consultant told us last spring that limited reach was the likely culprit, with the PWHL being more on the level of what the consultant called “second tier” men’s sports like curling and golf. The quality of play in the PWHL however “fit the bill”, the consultant added.
“The other misconception is that women don’t bet on sports. Again, if compared to the male counterparts of most large operators’ databases, women are a much smaller percentage of total, but I would bet that in most cases it’s a growing percentage.”
We’re sure that’s FanDuel’s play – they likely understand that going after female sport bettor is a smaller niche deal, with hockey providing some of the lowest handles, but there’s nonetheless some PR/marketing benefit with another Winter Olympics coming up, and a big marketing opportunity if the women win gold again.
Six teams
“This partnership is about creating a new era of fan engagement—one that brings hockey closer to fans while helping grow the visibility of women’s professional sports,” said Dale Hooper, General Manager of FanDuel, in a statement.
The PWHL has six teams – Boston Fleet, Minnesota Frost, Montreal Victoire, New York Sirens, Ottawa Charge and Toronto Sceptres. The new season kicks off tomorrow with the Sceptres hosting the Fleet, and the Victoire hosting the Charge.
“It’s fantastic to see an operator/brand like FanDuel recognize the importance of women’s professional sports and invest in supporting them,” said Amanda Brewer, an igaming consultant, and a former Country Manager Canada for Kindred. “I know many Canadians wish our men’s Olympic hockey team was as successful as our women’s team, so this feels like a levelling of the sponsorship playing field. I think it will be great if we can get to a place where it’s no longer noteworthy that big brands support women’s sports. Women play great hockey and deserve to have partners who recognize that.”
Expansion Discussion Next
This year, FanDuel, for one, is expanding offerings for customers bringing them more access to the PWHL through player prop bets, novelty markets, Same Game Parlays and much more, Alannah Della Vedova, Director of Content and Brand at FanDuel Canada, tells Casino.org.
“We have seen increasingly more support each season for women’s sports and the PWHL’s record breaking accomplishments have helped grow the visibility for the sporting community,” she said. “This collaboration is about more than just hockey. We are proud to help shine a brighter spotlight on professional female athletes and foster fan engagement. FanDuel is excited to see the growth of women’s sports across the industry, including the growth of the PWHL.
FanDuel Offers New PWHL Markets
“On FanDuel Sportsbook, in Ontario, customers can place a wager on the recently announced possible PWHL expansion through novelty markets like What cities will have a PWHL expansion team in 2025-2026 season? and What countries will the two PWHL expansion teams be from?”
PWHL pickup in other sportsbooks varies – BetMGM and OLG’s Proline have lines for Saturday, theScore Bet is offering Walter Cup futures, no markets offered on NorthStar Bets and DraftKings.
“I think (sponsorship of the PWHL) was a missed opportunity for some smaller/lesser known brands to add instant credibility, especially if the focus remains on the product and not aggressively pushing betting markets to PWHL fans,” Lalani added. “It will be interesting to see what FanDuel does (if anything) from an activation perspective.”
