FanDuel is getting into the free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) market, per a Thursday announcement.
The company is launching FanDuel TV Extra on several platforms, including Pluto TV, The Roku Channel, Xumo Play, and Plex, along with FanDuel TV+ (the company’s OTT platform).
FanDuel’s release says that FanDuel TV Extra will offer “more live sports than any other FAST channel currently available.” However, many live sports fall into the bucket of “under-loved sports” FanDuel touted when rebranding TVG to FanDuel TV two years ago.
Here are more details about the programming available:
Viewers and bettors will have access to live award-winning horse racing coverage FanDuel TV is famous for as well as international basketball including China’s CBA, Germany’s BBL, Turkey’s BSL and Pan-America’s BCLA, international soccer from South Korea’s K-League, PDC darts and poker from PokerStars.
Programming on “FanDuel TV Extra” will also include episodes of FanDuel TV’s original studio shows “Up & Adams” and “Run It Back.” Fans can watch player interviews and expert analysis of the top storylines from around the NFL and NBA from their favorite personalities like Kay Adams, Shams Charania, Michelle Beadle, Chandler Parsons, Lou Williams and more.
FanDuel TV executive producer and SVO Kevin Grigsby also had an interesting quote about viewers betting on the live content airing on FanDuel TV Extra.
“Launching ‘FanDuel TV Extra’ was another important step in expanding distribution for FanDuel TV content and reaching new audiences. Our research showed a large portion of our target audience already consume content on FAST,” Executive Producer and SVP of FanDuel TV Kevin Grigsby said. “Airing over 12 hours of live sports a day that can be wagered on significantly differentiates our channel in the market and allows us to reach a new cohort of passionate sports fans and bettors. We plan on continuing to invest in the reach of ‘FanDuel TV Extra’ by adding it to other top FAST providers in the near future.”
You won’t hear me complain about a company launching FAST channels, which are criminally underused in the sports broadcasting world (except for CBS, which dominates the space with three channels). FanDuel is launching one to air even more “under-loved sports” and possibly spark more betting opportunities for viewers, which makes plenty of sense.
[FanDuel]
