It’s been quite a year for DraftKings, with major expansions on virtually all fronts in 2014, but the Boston-based daily fantasy site is planning on getting 2015 off to an equally fantastic start. Starting today, users can sign up for a brand new component of the site: Daily Fantasy Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). It will feature a string of contests for users to engage in, beginning with the massive UFC 182 on January 3rd, when Jon “Bones” Jones will fight Daniel Cormier for the UFC Light Heavyweight Title in Las Vegas.
On top of that, DraftKings announced that they have agreed to a partnership with Jones, one of the biggest names in the MMA industry. The winners of the first DraftKings MMA event will get a chance to meet Jones, and then will receive an all-expense paid trip to UFC 183 on January 31st, when Anderson Silva fights Nick Diaz.
“MMA is really perfect for us,” said DraftKings Vice President of Communications Femi Wasserman, “and it kind of mirrors the dynamics that our industry is in. It skews younger, its fans are extremely entrenched, and still it has a magnificent growth curve.”
And on agreeing to a deal with Jones, Wasserman was thrilled.
“If you’re going to launch MMA, who better to partner with than Jon Jones.”
While no terms of DraftKings’ deal with Jones were disclosed, the agreement is not merely a short term one, in order to promote the January 3rd fight. In that respect, it’s clear that DraftKings is committing to the MMA side of the site, keeping possible future events (like another Jones fight) in mind.
Here’s a look at the rules for the new component, as explained by DraftKings:
Salary Cap: In each contest, participants are assigned a fixed salary cap of $50,000 that they can used to draft a 5-fighter lineup;
Scoring: Fighters in each event will accumulate points in accordance with MMA rules, including points for Significant Strikes, Advances, Takedowns, Reversals/Sweeps, and Knockdowns.
Bonus Points: Fighters will also gain fight conclusion bonuses based on which round they end the fight.
In that way, it looks similar to the other sports featured already, and will therefore be easy for the DraftKings users to figure out.
Unfortunately for fans of the Jones family (Jon ‘Bones’ Jones is brothers with two NFL players, including Patriots defensive end Chandler Jones), don’t expect to see them in DraftKings commercials together anytime soon. Even though the Patriots have a partnership with DraftKings, it doesn’t mean that Chandler will be partnering with his MMA brother anytime soon for daily fantasy sports.
Featured image via DraftKings
