ESPN’s ban on segments sponsored by beleaguered daily fantasy sports sites is over.
Last Tuesday, as the two major betting platforms DraftKings and FanDuel beat back bad press over an insider-trading type scandal, ESPN’s Bob Ley announced the network was removing sponsored segments. Both sites have massive advertising campaigns, and in-network sponsorships, but it seemed ESPN was willing to forgo ad dollars while the controversy played out.
They did, for about three days.
The sponsorships resumed Friday with a full complement by Sunday. ESPN’s NFL Countdown featured the “FanDuel Inactives” and “Draft Kings’ The Perfect Lineup,” which literally shows ESPN analysts Adam Schefter and Matthews Berry building teams on the DraftKings app.
Despite the controversy–or perhaps because of the added publicity–the sites had their biggest weekend yet.