DraftKings And FanDuel Celebrating NBA Tipoff With $3M DFS Contests

NBA teams are back on the hardwood Thursday night. Finally.

And the two biggest names in daily fantasy sports hope there’s some pent-up demand for action.

The NBA season was postponed on March 11. Twenty weeks and one day later, the Utah Jazz and New Orleans Pelicans will tipoff Thursday from within the league’s bubble.

While DraftKings and FanDuel are still a few months away from competing for legal Michigan sports betting app supremacy, the DFS market is already hot.

The state’s online sports betting launch is expected this fall in Michigan.

DraftKings has NBA restart bonus of its own

Following FanDuel’s $10 infusion to each of its player accounts last week, DraftKings responded.

New users get a free $4 ticket to the Millionaire contest on Thursday, plus a free $25 ticket into a second Millionaire contest on Friday.

There’s a $3 million total prize pool with a $1 million first prize. The contests lock at 6:30 p.m. EST on Thursday and at 2:30 p.m. on Friday.

FanDuel, DraftKings are 1-2 in Michigan DFS

The DFS rivals are expected to be right at the top of Michigan’s online sports betting market. DraftKings has online access through the Bay Mills Indian Community, and FanDuel has partnered with MotorCity Casino.

For years, the rivals have battled in the Michigan DFS game.

This year, fantasy contests are taxed by the state, as part of expanded gambling bills signed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in December.

DraftKings has led the DFS market so far in Michigan, with more than $1.9 million in adjusted gross revenue through May, a 53.8% market share.

FanDuel is second in the market with $1.4 million, a 39.5% share.

Getting as many DFS players as possible is key before football, and sports betting, come this fall.

FanDuel has its own NBA specials for restart weekend

In addition to the free $10, FanDuel has a $4 entry NBA Return Shot with the same stakes: a $3 million prize pool with $1 million to first place.

For states with online sportsbooks already, FanDuel is offering a Spread the Love Market for the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday. It’s essentially free money with a $50 max bet, provided LeBron James and the Lake Show merely show up.

For their game against the LA Clippers, the Lakers will start Thursday as 4-point favorites. But the line will move one point as each of the first 2,500 bettors take the Lakers.

It’s an exaggerated version of a promotion that landed bettors with the Indianapolis Colts and 51 points in an NFL game last year, and the Philadelphia 76ers with a 59.5-point cushion for bettors in a game earlier this season.