DraftKings Wants You To Meister This Year’s World Cup

Draft Kings Inc. gets ahead of the competition, quite literally, by partnering with Jägermeister in its “Real Shot” campaign that will let fans start their own madness for the 2018 World Cup.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with DraftKings to launch this first-to-market bracket-style competition that offers consumers a compelling, integrated sports experience and positions Jägermeister as the perfect way to enjoy the game.”

Despite, the U.S. men’s team not making the cut, soccer fans can now make their own brackets and bet which teams have the real shot at winning the world’s largest international soccer tournament.

Chris Peddy, chief marketing officer of Mast-Jägermeister U.S., said this in a release about Real Shot:

“With millions of engaged soccer fans in the U.S., Jägermeister, the unofficial shot of football worldwide, believes every fan has a real team and every team has a real shot at winning. We are thrilled to be partnering with DraftKings to launch this first-to-market bracket-style competition that offers consumers a compelling, integrated sports experience and positions Jägermeister as the perfect way to enjoy the game.”

Getting into the game

Together, DraftKings and Jägermeister created a sort of March Madness-style bracket. Soccer fans can pick the team they expect to win, and get into that team’s community.

Then, the fans can pick a winner for the 48 games and snag points on DraftKings’ customized scoring system.

These scores will fill two leaderboards: The Meister Leaderboard for all fans and the Community Leaderboard for the fans of the same team.

By engaging with content on the site, players can earn extra points. Group play points will also carry over to the knockout stage. Each game of knockout will require fan choices for winners. That includes the following phases:

• Round of 16
• Quarter-Finals
• Semi-Finals
• Final

Perks for play

Players in the top 500 on the Meister Leaderboard at the end of group play will receive Jägermeister-branded prizes. These players are otherwise known as “Meister Leaders.”

Comparatively, “Community Meisters” are the top five on the Community Leaderboard. At the end of the tournament, these five will win country-specific prizing from their community team and a Jägermeister jacket.

The “Meister,” or the fan that has the most points following the competition will win an all-expenses-paid trip to the winning team’s country.

Included in this VIP soccer experience is:

• Game tickets
• Transportation
• Swag
• Extra cash

Sports betting ruling changing the DFS landscape

This effort comes as no surprise following the Supreme Court ruling on sports betting. Already, there have been a variety of responses to this ruling. Some football players are even striking back already at sports betting legalization efforts as they supposedly violate rights of publicity.

Even though each state must develop its own sports betting legalization, some aren’t waiting around for legalized nationwide sports betting.

DraftKings Sportsbook launched its campaign in New Jersey already with marketing on billboards and transit signage.

For the record, this is DraftKings’ first foray into sports betting; this is not daily fantasy sports. But, over time, DFS operators have kept a safe distance from sports gambling and sports betting in favor of fantasy sports.

Legal Sports Report reported that in November of last year, executives started pivoting, expressing interest with internal memos and relocations to Boston (headquarters) and Hoboken (new office).

DraftKings also hired a new Head of Sportsbook for the new opportunity out of that New Jersey office. Already, DraftKings was seeking partnerships to hit the market with a land-based casino licensee or partner familiar with sportsbook tech.

With Jägermeister, all it took was disappointment to get involved.

With the US men’s team not making it into the World Cup, Jägermeister took it a bit as a loss. Its football roots date back to 1973.

Jägermeister was the first to put its logo on a sports jersey for a German football club. While its sister team in Germany (and as a German-owned company) may still have a chance, this opportunity presented itself as another way to get in the game, Peddy said to AdWeek.

Worldly association?

Interestingly enough, DraftKings and Jägermeister are not official FIFA World Cup sponsors, so you won’t see trademarks or specific references to World Cup, reported AdAge.

Others are also jumping on this bandwagon, including Fox Sports and genetic research firm 23andMe. According to AdAge, the partnership encourages enthusiasts to select the team that represents their ancestral origins. Consumers will do this with digital, social and out-of-home executions and branded store displays in Best Buy stores. That way, 23andMe customers can find connection via their DNA.

Others looking to be in the market by NFL season 2018? Paddy Power Befair and FanDuel. Both are rushing the US sports betting market to drive profit.

Soccer isn’t the only game DraftKings is looking to change up this year. DraftKings also recently released a new PGA format that matches the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play for future major PGA golf tournaments.

Photo by Starikov Pavel / Shutterstock.com

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