After seeing DraftKings advertisements completely disappear from ESPN for a few days following the daily fantasy sports scandal that erupted earlier in the week, it appears that normal service has essentially resumed. In compliance with the two-year advertising deal worth $250 million, DraftKings was previously running an almost nonstop barrage of both online and television ads, though the scandal (stemming from an information leak made by a DraftKings employee) caused a brief suspension.

Essentially, as soon as the daily fantasy scandal gained traction earlier in the week, ESPN (through Outside the Lines host Bob Ley) announced that in-show sponsored DraftKings content would no longer be aired. Shortly afterward, it was announced that all ads had been pulled “temporarily” in response to the crisis.

Of course, daily fantasy commercials of both DraftKings and its rival, FanDuel, remained on other networks. For example, NESN’s opening night broadcast of the Bruins had several in-game segments that were specifically sponsored by DraftKings. And on Thursday Night Football (shown on both the NFL Network and CBS), FanDuel commercials dominated the time between action.

And speaking of the NFL, it was silent on the issue for several days. Finally, commissioner Roger Goodell offered a typically aloof statement on the matter:

It’s hard to see the influence that it could have on the outcome of a game because individual players are picking different players from different teams, mashing them up, you might call it. It’s not based on the outcome of a game, which is what our biggest concern is with sports betting.

The discernible takeaway from that is simply that the league is not running away from daily fantasy.

ESPN on the other hand, was perfectly willing to desert its partner, at least for a few days. Suddenly, the DraftKings ads have made a return, reportedly even the in-show sponsored segments.

A DraftKings representative did not respond to requests for more information about the ads’ return.

Since the scandal is far from gone, the ads have had an ironic effect on the site. For example, a story about a Kentucky man seeking a class-action lawsuit against the daily fantasy giants was reported on ESPN with multiple DraftKings ads pictured:

 

The optics of this make it easier to understand ESPN’s hesitancy in regards continuing with the many ads. Nonetheless, one of DraftKings’ most prominent partners is back to its normal advertising setup, if perhaps reluctantly so.

And they never disappeared from other major sports outlets.
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