Continuing its move toward gaming, NASCAR has added a gaming companion to its official lineup. Thursday the league announced that PrizePicks will become the official fantasy sports partner.
The news comes on the heels of the announcement earlier this season of a partnership with Powerball as the “Official Lottery Game of NASCAR.”
While gambling has become popular with the sport in the last few years, fantasy racing has been around NASCAR since the 1980s. It exploded in popularity as the internet grew and NASCAR did it.
Fans can not only choose who will win the race, or the top finishers, but on the new platform can now test their skills with driver projections such as Fantasy Score, NASCAR Points, Fastest Laps, Laps Led, Cars Passed and Starting Position. PrizePicks added NASCAR in 2021 and says they’ve seen a 400 percent jump in activity over the past 12 months.
“We’ve always been proud of the fact that so much of our marketing and partnerships stay true to our southern roots,” said PrizePicks co-founder & CEO Adam Wexler, whose company also works with the Atlanta Falcons and Miami Marlins in recent years. “Working with NASCAR is the best of all worlds, an organization based in the South with a national footprint that is constantly growing on our platform.”
Today fantasy racing is embraced by NASCAR and its TV partners. This is another method used by the game to attract and attract its fans. And that work has paid off as NASCAR consistently ranks as a top-two weekend sport on television. So far in 2023, NASCAR’s Digital Platform has been visited 65 million times – a seven percent increase year-over-year.
NASCAR offers a section on its official web site on fantasy racing and more social media sites dedicated to fantasy racing picks every week.
Fox Sports is running a hybrid fantasy racing promotion, Fox’s NASCAR Stage 2 contest, during its broadcast that allows fans to enter to win based on predictions that if guessed correctly will give fans a chance to win cash prizes.
Launched in 2018 and headquartered in Atlanta, PrizePicks is not a gambling site. Players do not place bets, instead they pay a fee to enter various contests in an app or on a website. It was named the fastest growing sports company in America in 2022 with 250 employees and named a Top Workplace in Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It has deals with the PGA, the NBA, MLS and the NFL.
The partnership will give PrizePicks a VIP presence at several events throughout 2023 as NASCAR celebrates its 75th season, starting with the NASCAR Cup Series Geico 500 at Talladega Superspeedway this coming Sunday. Other races will be announced later in the season.
“PrizePicks has consistently proven itself to be a fantasy platform with a loyal fanbase and diverse sports offerings,” said Joe Solosky, NASCAR managing director, sports betting. “This partnership is an opportunity for both organizations to expand and increase engagement with new and existing fans.”
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