The Travers Stakes, one of the nation’s most prestigious horse races, will be sponsored by DraftKings this year and the Boston-based gaming company will be celebrating with giveaways for all its customers.
Spotlight on DK Horse
DraftKings is known for its mobile sports betting, iGaming, and daily fantasy sports. However, it also has a stand-alone horse racing app called DK Horse that will be front and center when the Travers Stakes runs this weekend. The Boston-based bookmaker plans to lavish plenty of perks on its DK Horse customers and their high-volume sports bettors seeking a change of perspective for at least one day.
“We would have liked to sponsor the Travers last year, but we had no legs yet,” said Johnny Avello, DraftKings director of race & sportsbook operations. “We wanted to wait to see how the first year went in 2023, and it went extremely well, so when we got into 2024, we knew the Travers was out there without a sponsor, which was a fit for us.”
But this year DraftKings signed an agreement with the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) for the rights to sponsor the Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers.
“Bringing DraftKings and DK Horse back to Saratoga for a second consecutive year is a tremendous honor,” said Christopher Cipolla, General Manager, Horse Racing, DraftKings. “Having our branding present throughout the summer at one of the most beautiful and well-attended race tracks in all of the world and being named the presenting sponsor of this year’s Travers and Acorn further cements our commitment to the sport of horse racing.”
“DraftKings is a premier brand within the rapidly growing sports wagering marketplace, and this arrangement will help to introduce world-class racing to a wider audience of fans and bettors,” said Tony Allevato, NYRA Chief Revenue Officer. “This will be a tremendously exciting year at Saratoga Race Course, and we thank DraftKings for supporting New York horse racing.”
Strategic Campaign
Now the time has arrived and DraftKings has plans to bring more attention to the Sport of Kings and its horse racing app, DK Horse.
“We have a whole department of VIP hosts, and their customers are a mix of sports, horse racing, and casino,” Avello said. “It’s an area we rely on, so when we have an event up at (Saratoga), we get a suite, we entertain those customers and show our loyalty to them.”
Multi-Tiered Strategy
However, bringing attention to its horse racing app is only part of the multi-tiered marketing strategy. Avello contends opportunities abound with its NYRA sponsorship.
“There is a strategy there,” Avello said. “We sponsored a race in March at Santa Anita since we have customers in California. So, we get the name out there for that. Then, we sponsored the Acorn Stakes on Belmont Weekend in New York. We have a presence throughout the track and we’re pushing the product to make sure everybody knows what the heck DK horse is.
“You go to Saratoga, you see us there, you see us on the billboard, you see us in the paddock. Now, we’re sponsoring the Travers, the focal point of the summer. The way we’ve approached it, we’re there, you see us, you know us, and if you don’t, you can explore who we are. We’ve put ourselves in people’s minds.”
This edition of the prestigious Travers Stakes will be only the fifth time in 64 years that a filly will run with the boys. Thorpedo Anna is that lone filly and is expected to traverse the 1¹⁄₄ miles (10 Furlongs) quicker than most as she is currently installed as one of the favorites.
Thorpedo Anna’s trainer, Kenny McPeek, has announced he will be donning pink in honor of his fleet-footed filly while DraftKings will also gear a promo around her.
“We’re passing out about 1,000 or 1,500 pink DraftKings hats on Saturday,” Avello said. “It’s another way to engage the public, even though they’re not sitting with us. We’ll pass out these hats to anyone with a DK Horse account before they walk in.”
