Fanatics Joins DraftKings and FanDuel as an Official NFL Sports Betting Partner
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Plenty of sportsbooks accept wagers on NFL games, but official partnership status gives Fanatics a direct commercial relationship with the league. The agreement covers several years and puts the company alongside DraftKings and FanDuel in a group of three authorized sports betting partners.
The arrangement gives the operators access to NFL branding and advertising opportunities connected to league events. That includes marketing around the Super Bowl and NFL Draft, where millions of football fans are already paying attention. The league’s three-partner agreement also provides access to official live statistics and Next Gen Stats through Genius Sports.
Those data rights have practical uses in sports betting. A sportsbook offering live wagers needs current information about what’s happening on the field, particularly when prices change during a game. Official data helps support those markets, although the betting operators still determine their own odds.
The partnership also comes with NFL integrity requirements, including restrictions on certain wagering categories and cooperation with league monitoring procedures.
For the NFL, adding Fanatics expands its commercial relationships with sportsbook operators while building on an existing merchandise and collectibles partnership. Rather than relying on a single betting sponsor, the league now has three major US sportsbook partners competing for visibility around its games and marquee events. That gives the NFL opportunities to develop multiple commercial relationships without granting one operator exclusive control of the category.
Fanatics Builds on Its Existing NFL Business
Fanatics already has a substantial place in professional football, particularly through merchandise sales. Its online stores sell licensed jerseys and other team products, while its retail operations serve supporters attending major NFL events. The company also operates in sports collectibles through Topps, which gives it another connection to football supporters beyond game day.
That existing relationship makes the sportsbook agreement an extension of a business Fanatics has spent years developing. The company already knows the NFL audience through merchandise purchases, and its betting division now has official marketing rights connected to the same league.
The new arrangement includes in-game advertising opportunities and media sponsorships, along with access to premium advertising inventory. Fanatics can also use NFL branding in approved promotions and participate in hospitality opportunities connected to major league events.
There is a commercial advantage in having these businesses under one company. Someone buying a football jersey and someone placing a wager on Sunday’s game are participating in different activities, but both are part of the audience Fanatics serves. The official agreement gives its sportsbook greater visibility within that established football business.
Fanatics also enters a competitive arrangement rather than an exclusive one. DraftKings and FanDuel remain official partners, so all three companies have opportunities to promote their sportsbooks through the NFL while competing for customers in states where sports betting is legal.
The Sportsbook Offer Behind the Partnership
The NFL agreement arrives as Fanatics continues building its sportsbook business, where welcome promotions remain an important part of attracting new customers. These offers have specific qualifying requirements, and the amount advertised is not necessarily available as withdrawable cash.
The NFL partnership arrives as Fanatics continues competing for new sportsbook customers. One example is the Fanatics new user promo detailed by Covers, which currently offers eligible customers up to $350 in FanCash after a qualifying $20 wager. The rewards are distributed in seven daily $50 installments, with separate claiming and expiration conditions.
FanCash is promotional credit rather than a cash payment, and the daily rewards have separate claiming conditions. Those details are worth understanding before treating the advertised amount as money available immediately.
Football Betting Has an Established Iowa Audience
Iowa provides a useful example of the market Fanatics is entering through its expanded NFL relationship. Sports betting has been legal in the state since 2019, and football remains a major part of the wagering calendar, particularly once the NFL and college seasons begin.
September 2026 produced $290.24 million in sports wagers across Iowa, with sportsbooks recording $23.75 million in revenue. That revenue represented a 4.58% increase from September 2025, even though the total amount wagered was virtually unchanged. The state collected $1.60 million in sports wagering taxes during the month.
Those figures describe two different parts of the business. The $290.24 million represents the total value of bets placed, including money returned to winning customers. Sportsbook revenue is the amount operators retained after paying winnings, before accounting for their operating expenses.
Iowa had 10 licensed online sports betting operators in September, so Fanatics is competing in an established market rather than introducing residents to a new form of entertainment. The state’s betting activity also gives some indication of the commercial audience available during football season.
Football is especially important because the NFL provides a regular schedule of games from September into January, followed by the playoffs and Super Bowl. College football adds another substantial part of the weekly calendar, giving Iowa bettors plenty of games to follow throughout the fall.
The partnership does not change Iowa’s sports betting laws or the requirement that customers be at least 21 and physically present in the state when wagering. What changes is Fanatics’ ability to promote its sportsbook through an official relationship with the league whose games already attract considerable betting activity locally.
Three Official Partners Enter the 2026 Season
The NFL’s arrangement now brings together three sportsbook operators with different business histories. DraftKings and FanDuel have spent years developing their betting operations, while Fanatics brings an existing merchandise business into a broader commercial relationship with professional football.
For Iowa fans, the immediate difference will be greater visibility for Fanatics around NFL games and league events. The companies will continue competing for customers, but Fanatics now has the same official partnership status as its two established rivals.
The agreement marks another step in Fanatics’ expansion beyond merchandise, placing its sportsbook alongside two of the best-known names in American sports betting.