LeBron James is officially joining DraftKings.
In a statement to FortyEightMinutes and other media, DraftKings announces that James “will help support key football initiatives and tentpole events through content creation, such as weekly football picks, and more.”
CEO and Co-Founder Jason Robins said he looks forward to welcoming “one of the most influential and greatest athletes of all time” to the DraftKings family.
“Welcoming one of the most influential and greatest athletes of all time, LeBron James, to the DraftKings family is an absolute honor and privilege,” said Robins.. “We look forward to working with a passionate sports fan who shares the same competitive mindset that echoes throughout the walls at DraftKings, while delivering exciting engagement opportunities to our customers and his loyal fanbase for years to come.”
James’ deal with DraftKings will be focused on NFL picks and won’t include anything NBA-related, Ben Fawkes confirms via USA Today’s For The Win.
???? x ????!!! Football season just got A LOT more fun. ???????????????? Let’s go! @DraftKings #DKPartner pic.twitter.com/kyNaq3WBZm
— LeBron James (@KingJames) January 31, 2024
NBA Players Permitted To Have Sports Betting Deals
The NBA’s Players Association had pushed for a piece of the sports betting pie back in 2018 when federal legislation began allowing individual states to legalize sports betting and the NBA had remained open to possibilities as new revenue streams.
“We welcome the involvement of our players in this process and believe there is an alignment of interests of everyone involved in professional sports to protect the integrity of our competitions,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass told CNBC in 2018.
The latest Collective Bargaining Agreement, which was formalized in July of 2023, left open the opportunity for current NBA players to reach deals with sportsbooks so long as they were not betting or picking NBA or WNBA games. Any previous financial benefit that NBA players received from sports betting deals had come via the players union’s pre-negotiated share of teams’ basketball-related income.
James began making NFL picks on his social media channels during the 2023 NFL season. At the time, two sources close to James reportedly told longtime sports business reporter Darren Rovell that the four-time MVP wanted to make picks in the “name of fun.”
Two sources close to James says there is nothing imminent with regard to a promotional sportsbook deal and that LeBron just wanted to do this in the name of fun.
But given his stature, and the more relaxed rules around NBA players endorsing gaming brands, it would not be surprising if sportsbooks start to take notice.
James currently has nearly 160 million followers on Instagram and nearly 53 million followers on Twitter/X. His deal with DraftKings comes less than two weeks before Super Bowl LVIII and with 38 states (plus Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico) having already legalized sports betting.
