Sports And Media Pros Bet Big On Fantasy Sports

Published July 30, 2015 at 12:33 PM EDT

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A woman tries the new Yahoo Sports Daily Fantasy contest following a product launch on July 8 in San Francisco. (Eric Risberg/AP)

Pro leagues, teams and the media empires that broadcast them are betting big on fantasy sports. DraftKings, a major daily fantasy sports site, said this week it has received a $300 million investment from Fox Sports, Madison Square Garden and the national leagues of baseball, hockey and soccer.

Earlier this month, FanDuel got $275 million from NBC Sports, Time Warner’s Turner Sports and other investors, such as Google and Comcast. Fantasy sports is big business, but besides making money, the online games can also help hook the next generation of fans and provoke them to spend money on the real thing.

Here & Now sports analyst Mike Pesca discusses this and other development in the sports world this week, with host Robin Young.

Guest

Mike Pesca, Here & Now sports analyst and host of Slate's daily podcast The Gist. He tweets @pescami.