Delta clarifies DraftKings partnership, leaves plan unclear

When Delta Air Lines announced a partnership with the gambling app provider DraftKings at CES in early January it raised a lot of questions about just what would be involved. The carrier declined to offer more details at the time. Now, a month later, it has offered up an explanation of the relationship that still comes up short on details:

Delta is exploring a first-of-its-kind collaboration with DraftKings, a leading digital sports entertainment gaming and technology company—which we expect to come soon to Delta Sync Wi-Fi. The potential collaboration contemplates that eligible SkyMiles Members can access free gaming as an additional offering on Delta Sync Wi-Fi available through SkyMiles Members’ personal electronic devices. The Delta Sync experience does not include gaming of any kind using real money or miles.

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For starters, the new phrasing describes it as a much less fully formed plan for how the partnership will manifest. The airline is “exploring” what might be a “potential” relationship, not a sure thing. It might not even happen.

But it probably will, and when it does it will not be gambling on board, but the implication is it will be something very close to that.

Delta is explicit that the scope of the potential business transaction “does not include any kind of gaming using real money or miles.” Delta further assures that it will not offer up an experience that could violate applicable laws. But it is expected to be a “gaming” experience on the inflight entertainment platform, which is the term used in the industry to describe gambling.

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DraftKings saw $4.8 billion in revenue in 2024, with 10.1 million registered users. As it continues to grow it also seeks to acquire customers at a lower cost. Partnerships like this, no doubt, aim to deliver on that front.

But if there’s no real money involved is it still gambling? At a minimum it normalizes the experience, and potentially the user interface DraftKings uses in its real gambling experiences. And the fact that Delta intends to exclude the content from the Delta Sync offering where a SkyMiles member is under 21 shows recognition by the airline that the content requires at least some limits in place.