DraftKings to Bring Amazing Fan Experiences and Rewards to UFC Fans, One of the Fastest Growing and Most Engaged Fan Bases in Major Sports
BOSTON—February 25, 2015—DraftKings, Inc., the largest U.S.-based destination for daily fantasy sports, today announced a partnership with the UFC®, the world’s leading mixed martial arts (MMA) organization. Through DraftKings, UFC fans will be able to enter into weekly fantasy MMA contests to win numerous prizes, including individual time with UFC stars and personalities and trips to premier UFC events.
The new partnership between UFC and DraftKings will make UFC fans a priority by offering exclusive opportunities to meet and interact with their favorite UFC athletes and personalities. UFC and DraftKings will be providing fans with multiple contest opportunities, including:
• The Dana White Experience: Winners will receive travel and accommodation to attend a major UFC event as Dana White’s special guest. Winners will attend the press events, workouts and stand on the stage at weigh-ins leading up to the event, get a photo taken in the world-famous Octagon™ with Dana following weigh-ins, and sit in Dana’s special guest section during the fights.
• UFC International Fight Week: Winners will receive travel and accommodations, plus two VIP passes to every event at UFC International Fight Week in Las Vegas from July 7-12.
• Fights with Dana: Winners will receive two tickets to attend a UFC event and sit in Dana White’s VIP section.
“The UFC is the fastest growing sports organization in the world, driven by the millions of fans who passionately follow MMA. We’re excited to partner with the UFC to provide its fans with games that provide tremendous payouts and amazing, unique prizes,” said Jeremy Elbaum, Vice President of Business Development at DraftKings. “This partnership reflects DraftKings’ deep commitment to MMA and its fans.”
“We’re thrilled to partner with DraftKings to provide UFC fans with new opportunities to engage with the UFC,” UFC Senior Vice President of Global Marketing Partnerships Michael Mossholder said. “Like all major sports and leagues, we continue to strive for ways to offer the most thrilling and innovative experiences for our fans and working alongside the leaders of the daily fantasy sports industry offers a cutting edge platform for daily action and entertainment.”
The partnership with UFC builds on DraftKings’ commitment to mixed martial arts and its growing legion of fans. DraftKings recently unveiled Daily Fantasy MMA, the biggest daily fantasy contest for mixed martial arts, and announced an exclusive partnership with UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones. As part of the UFC agreement, DraftKings will become the Official Daily Fantasy Sports Partner of the UFC and will receive prominent stadium and PPV brand placement for all major events, as well as joint promotion across all UFC web properties and social channels.
More than 41 million people in the United States and Canada play fantasy sports. Daily fantasy sports is a rapidly growing component of this multi-billion dollar market. DraftKings offers contests for experts and casual players alike. In addition to daily MMA, DraftKings also offers fantasy contests in major professional and college sports. DraftKings MMA is available to all players through the web, or any Android or iOS device.
About DraftKings:
Launched in April 2012, Boston-based DraftKings, Inc. is the largest, U.S.-based online gaming destination where players engage in daily fantasy sports competitions across fantasy professional football, baseball, golf, basketball, hockey, soccer, and mixed martial arts, and college football and basketball. DraftKings offers free and pay contests every day that award cash prizes. All contests feature a salary cap format, and new contests are offered every day with instantaneous prize distribution for winners. For more information, visit DraftKings at www.draftkings.com, like DraftKings at www.facebook.com/draftkings, and follow DraftKings at www.twitter.com/draftkings.
About UFC®:
UFC® is the premier mixed martial arts (MMA) organization and largest pay-per-view event provider in the world. Headquartered in Las Vegas with offices in London, Toronto, Singapore and Sao Paulo, UFC produces more than 40 live events annually that consistently sell out some of the most prestigious arenas around the globe. UFC programming is broadcast in 129 countries and territories to nearly 800 million TV households worldwide in 28 different languages. The UFC has a multi-year broadcast agreement with FOX in the U.S., which annually includes four live events broadcast on the FOX network, as well as The Ultimate Fighter® reality television show and thousands of hours of programming on FOX Sports 1 and FOX Sports 2. In 2014, UFC launched UFC FIGHT PASS™, a digital subscription service with exclusive live events, thousands of fights on-demand and original content. The UFC organization also licenses over 100 UFC GYM® locations, and owns UFC.TV® (offering live event broadcasts and video on-demand around the world), UFC FIT® (an in-home fitness and nutrition program), UFC Magazine, and has a videogame franchise with EA SPORTS, UFC Fight Club®, UFC Fan Expo®, UFC branded apparel, DVDs and Blu-rays and Topps Trading Cards. For more information, visit UFC.com and follow UFC at Facebook.com/UFC, Twitter and Instagram: @UFC.