The NFL has expanded its official sports betting partnerships ahead of the 2026 season, renewing multi-year agreements with DraftKings and FanDuel while adding Fanatics Betting and Gaming as a new league partner.
The agreements, announced on August 27, give all three sportsbook operators the ability to use NFL branding within the sports betting category, promote online and retail wagering and activate around major league events including the Super Bowl and NFL Draft.
The partnerships arrive shortly before the 2026 regular season begins on September 9, reinforcing the commercial importance of sports betting to the league as operators prepare for one of the busiest periods of the wagering calendar.
According to the NFL, DraftKings and FanDuel have been official sportsbook partners since 2021. Fanatics now joins them through a multi-year agreement that expands its existing relationship with the league in merchandise and collectibles.
Sportsbook partnerships expand ahead of kickoff
Under the new agreements, DraftKings, FanDuel and Fanatics will have access to official NFL play-by-play data, Next Gen Stats and BetVision through Genius Sports, the league’s exclusive data distribution partner.
The operators will also be able to integrate content across NFL-owned digital media properties and have a presence at major NFL events.
DraftKings will continue as the NFL’s official daily fantasy sports partner, while Fanatics will additionally become an official online casino marketing partner of the league.
Financial details of the agreements were not disclosed.
The announcement comes after previous sportsbook agreements involving DraftKings, FanDuel and Caesars Sportsbook expired in March.
For sportsbook operators, the timing places renewed attention on customer acquisition and engagement as football betting activity begins to increase ahead of opening week.
New Jersey remains one of the country’s most competitive regulated sports betting markets, with multiple licensed operators competing for both new and returning customers. Bettors comparing regulated offers can also find information on promotions such as the BetMGM promo code NJ, including available bonuses and eligibility requirements.
That promotional competition sits within a much wider market that has become increasingly important to both sportsbook operators and professional sports leagues.
NFL betting market continues to grow
The scale of legal NFL wagering highlights why partnerships around the league remain commercially significant.
The American Gaming Association estimates that Americans will legally wager $29.5 billion on the 2026 NFL season through regulated commercial sportsbooks, broadly flat with the estimated $29.4 billion wagered last season. Sept
Unlike major sporting events concentrated into a single weekend or tournament, the NFL provides sportsbooks with regular betting opportunities across several months. Weekly games, divisional rivalries and the postseason provide a sustained schedule from September through the Super Bowl.
Sportsbooks have also expanded beyond traditional moneyline, point-spread and totals markets.
Football bettors now commonly have access to same-game parlays, player props, live in-play wagering, alternate spreads and totals, and markets linked to individual drives or periods of a game.
Those products give operators additional opportunities to engage customers throughout a game rather than relying solely on wagers placed before kickoff.
Strong audiences reinforce football’s commercial importance
The NFL enters the new season following another strong year for television and digital audiences.
The 2025 regular season averaged 18.7 million viewers per game, according to the NFL and Nielsen. That was the league’s second-highest regular-season average since audience records began in 1988.
The reported average was 10% higher than the previous season’s 17.5 million viewers and 7% above 2023.
However, part of the increase reflected changes to Nielsen’s audience-measurement methodology, including expanded out-of-home measurement and the incorporation of additional smart-TV and set-top-box data.
Even with that qualification, the figures underline the NFL’s ability to generate large audiences consistently throughout the season.
That reach gives sportsbook operators repeated opportunities to put betting products in front of customers during nationally televised games.
Mobile and live betting remain central to sportsbook strategy
Mobile wagering has become particularly important as legal sports betting has expanded across the United States.
Customers in regulated states can increasingly place wagers while watching games at home or on mobile devices rather than visiting a retail sportsbook.
Live betting has further changed the way operators approach football.
Instead of limiting activity to wagers placed before kickoff, sportsbooks can offer changing odds and markets throughout a game. These may cover the next scoring play, player performance, individual drives and shifting game outcomes.
The result is a betting environment in which customer activity can continue throughout a broadcast.
As the new NFL season approaches, operators are also likely to place greater emphasis on app reliability, speed and ease of navigation during periods of heavy game-day traffic.
Integrity and responsible gambling included in new agreements
The NFL’s August 27 announcement also emphasized betting integrity and responsible gambling alongside the commercial aspects of the partnerships.
The league said its integrity program includes information sharing with sportsbook partners, monitoring for suspicious wagering activity and cooperation with regulators, law enforcement agencies and third-party partners.
Genius Sports provides real-time monitoring of betting patterns, while NFL clubs have assigned integrity representatives to support the league’s program.
Players, coaches, officials and staff are also required to undergo annual education regarding the NFL’s gambling policy.
Responsible betting forms another part of the league’s approach. The NFL has partnered with the National Council on Problem Gambling and said it will again run its “Stick to Your Game Plan, Always Bet Responsibly” campaign during the coming season.
Player protection is also receiving continued attention in regulated state markets. New Jersey, for example, has continued developing responsible gambling measures while regulators and advertising authorities elsewhere have taken action around gambling marketing, reflecting broader industry trends.
Sportsbooks prepare for the 2026 NFL season
The NFL’s decision to renew its relationships with DraftKings and FanDuel while adding Fanatics illustrates how closely sports betting has become connected with the commercial ecosystem surrounding professional football.
With the regular season beginning on September 9, operators are entering a period of heightened competition for customers, particularly in established regulated markets.
Strong NFL audiences, an estimated tens of billions of dollars in legal seasonal wagering and continued growth in mobile and live betting all help explain why the opening weeks of football remain so important to sportsbook operators.
The NFL’s latest partnerships therefore provide a clear starting point for the 2026 betting season: three major operators will have official league status as sportsbooks compete for customers throughout another high-profile year of American football.