Less than two decades ago, the concept of countless TV viewing options through our internet connection revolutionizing how we consume home entertainment came off like futuristic fantasy. The idea that one of those platforms would have multiple customized channels devoted exclusively to legal sports betting? Complete pipe dream. A new DraftKings SLING channel is now reality.
The joint announcement between DraftKings and the live TV streaming service unveiled a collaborative agreement that immediately makes the DraftKings Basketball Channel available to all SLING TV and SLING FREE users.
The DraftKings SLING channel currently features real-time game scores and betting odds from all NBA regular-season games. According to the press release, DK baseball and hockey channels will be available via the same platforms in a matter of weeks.
And while not part of Thursday’s announcement, it would seem a virtual lock an NFL-based DraftKings SLING channel will be part of the offerings come fall.
SLING becomes the latest media entity to embrace a once-taboo industry, unsurprising given the tidal wave of legalization activity across the country and corresponding demand for sports betting content.
“This new channel is just the beginning of how we plan to bring the DraftKings sports betting experience to SLING TV customers,” said Michael Schwimmer, President, SLING TV. “We will continue expanding and enhancing our offerings to be the ultimate entertainment experience for sports fans.”
For DK, having its own mini-block of branded channels on all of SLING’s programming platforms offers the company extensive exposure for its real-money-based sports gaming products while giving it a leg up in terms of a presence on a popular streaming service.
Simplified platform makes for user-friendly viewing, consumption
Dating back to its initial 2018 debut, DraftKings Sportsbook has strived to provide a user-friendly interface that can be consumed with equal ease by both the novice and experienced bettor. The initial iteration of their first DraftKings SLING channel seems to follow the same philosophy.
Upon accessing the channel through either SLING’s web platform or app on either a mobile device or smart TV before that day’s games begin, viewers are greeted with continually scrolling tiles featuring each matchup individually on the left side of the screen. Team logos and a table featuring any available moneyline, total points and point spread data from DraftKings Sportsbook is displayed underneath.
Pre-Game Look at DraftKings Sling Channel
The right side of the screen functions as a digital sportsbook board that actively scrolls all of the current available betting data for games on that particular slate.
In-Game Look at DraftKings Sling Channel
Once a slate of games is live, an ongoing scoreboard crawl feature will appear along the bottom of the screen and update continuously. The current score for each individual game will also appear in that game’s tile on the left side of the screen, along with quarter/time remaining information.
Agreement instantly brings DK Sportsbook into millions of living rooms
The newly minted agreement with SLING is a natural offshoot of a deal between DK and SLING’s parent company DISH Network just inked in March.
As part of that pact, the DK app was integrated into the DISH TV Hopper platform, allowing DISH customers with a Hopper family receiver to initiate daily fantasy contest entries or place wagers in states with legalized sports betting directly from their TV and then watch or record the related sporting events.
As with that feature, the SLING-exclusive sports betting channels is another method of saturating a would-be bettor with convenience by offering them all the pertinent data necessary to place a wager through DK Sportsbook on one or multiple sporting events.
