Sports and live entertainment company AEG has signed up North American daily fantasy sports gaming platform Monkey Knife Fight as a sponsor of three of its sports teams in Southern California.
The AEG-owned teams are the National Hockey League’s Los Angeles Kings and its American Hockey League affiliate Ontario Reign, plus the Major League Soccer franchise Los Angeles Galaxy.
Monkey Knife Fight is the third-largest and fastest-growing daily fantasy sports site in North America behind DraftKings and FanDuel.
The teams were selected as part of a larger targeted customer acquisition strategy ahead of potential sports betting legislation in California, which is now not expected until 2023 after delays to the process this summer.
California will be a battleground for users, with the expectation that sports betting will eventually be legalized. As such, the San Jose-based Monkey Knife Fight is using its partnership deals as a way to build its user base and overall market share.
More specifically, Monkey Knife Fight sees Southern California as one of the most critical areas in the country to build its brand and gain users. The company had partnered with the XFL’s Los Angeles Wildcats before the start-up football league suspended its business operations and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year.
As part of the AEG deal, Monkey Knife Fight will have an enhanced brand presence at the LA Kings’ and LA Galaxy venues as well as on their media channels.
For the LA Kings, Monkey Knife Fight will have a corner in-ice logo, which will be featured prominently during all regular season home games at Staples Center. The company will also receive digital scoreboard and LED stadium ribbon board signage during all LA Galaxy regular season home games at Dignity Health Sports Park.
Partnership elements with the Ontario Reign include digital signage and in-game marketing elements during all of team’s regular season home games at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.
“Our partnership with AEG is the perfect opportunity to help strengthen the MKF brand and reinforces our shared commitment to the sports fans we serve throughout Southern California, one of our most important and fastest growing markets,” said Monkey Knife Fight founder and chief executive Bill Asher. “The LA Kings, LA Galaxy, and Ontario Reign are three highly acclaimed teams and we are incredibly proud to be a part of their ongoing success.”
In May, Monkey Knife Fight entered into a partnership with Major League Baseball’s Milwaukee Brewers.
