DraftKings joins the Nascar grid

Fantasy sports operator DraftKings has teamed up with the Nascar North American stock car-racing series.

DraftKings will serve as Nascar’s official daily fantasy sports partner in a three-year deal, from 2015 to 2017.

DraftKings, which already has partnerships with numerous sports properties and last month linked up with Major League Baseball, has secured an exclusive license to develop Nascar-branded fantasy games on a paid-for and free-to-play basis.

“Pursuing ways to connect with our fans on a daily basis while enhancing their viewing experience has been paramount to Nascar, and fantasy sports is a core tenet of that strategy,” said Steve Phelps, Nascar’s executive vice-president and chief marketing officer. “We are committed to growing our fan base, increasing engagement and diversifying our audience and partnering with DraftKings will strongly support all of these efforts.”

Jason Robins, chief executive and co-founder of DraftKings, added: “We’re always exploring new avenues for innovation and stats from Nascar Digital Media’s direct data feed that we will provide to our players is another example of DraftKings’ commitment to incorporating new technologies for the benefit of the fan.”