Are you ready to place multi-game parleys from your cramped seat during long-haul flights? Delta Air Lines announced a partnership with DraftKings during a keynote address at CES. While pesky federal laws currently prohibit inflight sports betting, regulations can change. It’s how DraftKings became a $19 billion gambling behemoth in less than 15 years.
While Delta CEO Ed Bastian referenced the fact he was speaking in Las Vegas, it’s not clear what the partnership will entail. SeekingAlpha reported that customers could potentially start earning Delta SkyMiles through betting on DraftKings. The gambling company also operates the DraftKings Network, a sports media outlet, and Delta could make DKN content available on flights. However, there will be some gaming elements. In a press release, Bastian said:
“From fantasy sports to online adventures, gaming has become a regular part of the daily lives of millions of our customers, and you shouldn’t have to hit pause just because you’re in the sky. Our partnership with DraftKings will build on the games portfolio we already offer today via Delta Sync and our seatback screens while using the deep expertise that Jason [Robins, DraftKings co-founder and CEO] and his team have developed over the past decade.”
An end to the current inflight betting ban isn’t impossible, considering how sports gambling has seemingly consumed American society over the past decade. DraftKings and its competitor FanDuel emerged as daily fantasy sports websites in the early 2010s. Both entities fell within a legal gray area where sports fans could compete for cash prizes, but it technically wasn’t gambling. In 2018, the Supreme Court overturned the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992, which effectively banned sports gambling nationwide. After the decision, both companies began openly operating as sportsbooks.
Major airlines are willing to do anything to generate revenue by unconventional means. Carriers are using frequent-flier programs to become quasi-financial institutions. Airlines are even gambling with their own money by betting on eVOTL as the future of luxury air travel. Delta invested $60 million into Joby in 2022 to eventually operate city-center-to-airport flying taxi shuttles for passengers. Nothing is off the table.
