DraftKings and FanDuel spend more on marketing than almost any company in American sports. Their influencer programs are sophisticated, well-funded, and designed to dominate every major creator niche in the sports betting space. For smaller sportsbooks and predictions apps, this can feel like an impossible competitive position.
But here's what the smaller operators often miss: DraftKings and FanDuel cannot partner with everyone. Their programs favor large, known creators — which means thousands of mid-tier sports betting YouTube channels with highly engaged, loyal audiences are completely open to partnership with a competing platform. And those mid-tier creators often convert better than macro-influencers anyway.
How DraftKings Uses Creator Marketing
DraftKings runs what is effectively a two-tier influencer program. At the top, they have formal partnerships with high-profile sports media personalities and celebrity athletes. These are expensive, brand-awareness plays designed to win the mental battle of "which app do I open when I want to bet."
Below that, they run a large volume of smaller creator deals — picks YouTubers, DFS specialists, and sports podcasters — using a promo code affiliate model. Creators promote a sign-up bonus with a unique promo code; DraftKings tracks new depositors attributed to each creator. The best-performing creators get renewed; the rest don't.
The key insight from DraftKings' strategy: they prioritize scale and coverage over exclusivity with every creator. They would rather have 200 creators promoting them than 20 exclusive partners.
FanDuel's Approach
FanDuel has leaned more heavily into celebrity and media personality partnerships — sports broadcasters, former athletes turned analysts, and comedy/entertainment crossovers with sports audiences. This builds top-of-funnel brand awareness that promo codes alone can't achieve.
At the micro-creator level, FanDuel runs a similar affiliate program to DraftKings with promo codes and performance-based renewals. They also invest heavily in podcast sponsorships across the sports content ecosystem, which has historically been underutilized by other operators.
What Mid-Market Operators Can Learn
1. Micro-influencers convert better than you think
The data consistently shows that creators with 40,000–200,000 subscribers have higher engagement rates and more trust with their specific audience than channels with millions of followers. A picks creator with 80K loyal subscribers who watches every video is a more powerful acquisition tool than a celebrity with 2 million casual followers. DraftKings knows this, which is why they run hundreds of smaller creator partnerships alongside their big bets.
2. Niche sports are underserved
DraftKings and FanDuel both concentrate their creator spend in NFL, NBA, and DFS — the highest-volume categories. But there's a long tail of niche sports with passionate, active betting audiences and minimal competitive creator activity: MMA/boxing, golf, hockey, college football and basketball, and international soccer. An operator that builds a strong creator presence in even one of these niches can own that vertical before the big players get there.
3. First-mover advantage is real in creator relationships
Creator relationships compound. A creator who has been promoting your platform for six months has mentioned your promo code dozens of times to their audience. Their viewers have developed an association between that creator and your brand. If DraftKings then comes in with a better offer, the creator may switch — but you've already extracted significant brand value and depositor volume from that relationship. The sooner you build creator relationships, the more runway you get before the bigger players compete for the same partners.
4. Find the creators they haven't locked up yet
This is the most actionable takeaway. The creators who have already promoted DraftKings or FanDuel are proven — their audiences convert — but they may also be in exclusivity arrangements or commanding premium rates. GetReachIQ's database tracks brand deal history for 1,000+ sports betting creators, so you can filter specifically for channels that have worked with competitors (to see who converts well) or channels that haven't (to find untapped opportunities at lower cost).
The opportunity: DraftKings and FanDuel have budgets in the hundreds of millions. They will always outspend you on celebrity partnerships and TV advertising. But creator marketing is one of the few channels where a $10,000/month budget can realistically compete — if you target the right creators.
A Practical Approach for Smaller Operators
Rather than trying to replicate DraftKings' scale, focus on building depth in one or two niches. If you have a strong MMA betting product, own the MMA picks creator space. If you're launching in a new state, partner with local sports media creators whose audience is concentrated in that geography. Depth in one vertical will outperform surface-level coverage across ten.
Set a target of 5–10 active creator partnerships before you worry about scaling. A handful of well-chosen, well-managed relationships will teach you more about what converts for your platform than 50 one-off deals. GetReachIQ's campaign pipeline is designed specifically to manage these relationships from first contact to signed deal, so nothing falls through the cracks as your program grows.
Find creators before your competitors do
Filter 1,000+ sports betting creators by niche, brand deal history, and engagement rate. See who's already working with DraftKings and FanDuel — and who isn't yet.