The logical conclusion of the league's new partnership with DraftKings.
July 22, 2021 by Charlie Eisenhood in News with 0 comments
A new partnership between the American Ultimate Disc League and legal sports betting operator DraftKings has taken its next turn: you can now gamble on the AUDL in some states.
DraftKings is now offering spread bets, moneyline bets, over/under bets, and team futures on who will win the 2021 AUDL Championship. The lines are available now in Illinois and possibly elsewhere; individual states have to approve sports leagues for betting before any books can offer wagering there. Michigan has also approved the AUDL for betting.
Sports gambling is now legal in 21 states and Washington DC, with 10 additional states expected to have legal betting available by the end of the year. Sports gambling has been increasingly legalized since a Supreme Court ruling in 2018 lifted an effective ban on commercial sports betting. After years of avoiding any perceived connection to gambling, major sports leagues and teams have been partnering with gaming companies in deals worth millions of dollars.
In a recent pitch to potential investors, the AUDL explicitly wrote about forming fantasy and sports betting partnerships. Earlier this year, the league signed an exclusive deal with LSports, a company that provides real-time sports data to casinos and sportsbooks.
The AUDL has been streaming games to the DraftKings YouTube and Twitch channels every Friday night this season as a part of their partnership. DraftKings has also been offering weekly AUDL free-to-play pools that offer $5,000 in prizes. The league has been heavily advertising the DraftKings pools on their website.
This isn’t the first time that gambling on the AUDL has been possible. MyBookie, an offshore sportsbook, took bets in the 2019 season. They have not listed any game lines this year.
Gambling on the AUDL is expressly prohibited for anyone involved in the league, including players, referees, and coaches.
DraftKings has the Atlanta Hustle as the current odds-on favorite (+500) to win the title this season. The DC Breeze (+575), Chicago Union (+600), and Minnesota Wind Chill (+625) are the next three most-favored teams. The defending champion New York Empire are listed at +900.
Here are all of the AUDL bets available on DraftKings as of the evening of 7/22:
