"There's tremendous momentum in not just fantasy sports, but also sports betting, which is open in 12 states and rapidly expanding throughout country," Kalish says.
The spots, created in-house and featuring DraftKings host Jessie Coffield, will give Super Bowl viewers the chance to bet for free on fourth-quarter action, such as who will score the last touchdown or if there will be a 20-yard gain. So, even if the game is a blowout, there will still be a reason to tune in to the final quarter, Kalish says.
Just by entering the pool, participants will get a prize, with payouts ranging from $3 to $25,000. The winner or winners will get $1 million or share $1 million.
DraftKings had originally planned to air only one commercial in the game, but once they saw the matchup between Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Kalish says they decided they wanted a bigger presence.
DraftKings joins a growing roster of first-time Super Bowl advertisers looking to capitalize on the growing audience they found amid the pandemic, including e-commerce platform Mercari, Scotts Miracle-Gro, online car dealership Vroom, online job sit Indeed and online freelance marketplace Fiverr. Currently, there are 11 brands that will make their Super Bowl debut on Feb. 7.
