DraftKings Becomes Exclusive NHL on Prime Sportsbook Sponsor in Canada

Legal sports betting in Canada is heading into one of its busiest stretches of the year. The NFL and college football seasons are already underway, while NHL and NBA betting are now joining the calendar, creating a four-sport window in which sportsbooks can chase some of their most valuable customers.

Now, DraftKings has planted its flag directly in the middle of that sports calendar. The company announced Sept. 28 that it has reached an agreement with Prime Video to become the exclusive Sportsbook and Online Casino Integration sponsor of NHL on Prime in Canada for the 2026-27 season. The agreement covers every Wednesday Night Hockey broadcast and select Stanley Cup Playoff coverage.

DraftKings gets prime real estate on Prime Video

DraftKings will receive exclusive integrations throughout Wednesday Night Hockey, including branded pregame and intermission features, commercial spots, sponsorship moments connected to live game events and score-clock elements. Prime Video is no longer just another place Canadians can watch hockey. Rogers and Amazon signed a 12-year agreement making Prime Video the exclusive Canadian home of Wednesday night national NHL games through the 2037-38 season. Prime also holds Canadian rights to two first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series and one second-round series each year.

The inaugural Wednesday Night Hockey broadcast began Sept. 30 with the Toronto Maple Leafs hosting the New York Islanders. The 2026-27 schedule features at least 26 national regular-season games, with every matchup involving at least one Canadian team. For DraftKings, that creates something considerably more valuable than scattered commercial inventory: repeated access to an audience that is already watching live sports and, potentially, thinking about the game in real time.

What is DraftKings?

DraftKings began in 2012 as a daily fantasy sports company founded by Jason Robins, Matt Kalish and Paul Liberman. The company accepted users in both the United States and Canada from its early days, making Canada one of its earliest international markets. Its Canadian footprint initially centered on daily fantasy sports. By 2021, DraftKings said Canadian customers had entered more than 67 million DFS contests, including 11 million NHL contests.

That relationship with Canadian sports fans predates the country's regulated single-event sports betting market by years. But DraftKings expanded its Canadian offering significantly in May 2022 when it launched its regulated Sportsbook and Casino products in Ontario. That came shortly after the private Ontario sports betting and casino market opened, giving the company a legal sportsbook and online casino presence rather than simply a fantasy sports operation.

The company subsequently expanded again. On July 13, 2026, DraftKings launched its Sportsbook and iGaming products in Alberta, making the province its second Canadian regulated market. DraftKings said the two provinces represented approximately 51% of Canada's population.

Why the NHL deal matters

The immediate opportunity is obvious: hockey is one of Canada's biggest sports properties, and DraftKings now has guaranteed branding around a significant package of nationally distributed games.

But the longer-term play is much bigger. Sportsbooks compete fiercely for attention during major sporting events. A traditional television commercial disappears after 30 seconds. A score-clock integration or branded game feature can remain part of the broadcast experience for an entire contest.

Amazon Ads Canada described live sports as particularly valuable because viewers have an incentive to remain engaged rather than channel-surf. DraftKings is effectively buying a recurring place inside that viewing habit. That could become increasingly important as Canada's regulated betting market matures.

Ontario already has 49 regulated operators, 84 gaming websites, and dozens of betting apps available to customers, according to iGaming Ontario's September directory. Early in the Ontario market, simply being available was part of the battle. Now operators need differentiation, brand recognition and efficient ways to stay in front of customers when major sports are actually happening.DraftKings' NHL strategy fits that evolution neatly.

There is also a regulatory dimension. Canada's gaming advertising environment is under increasing scrutiny, with the Canadian Gaming Association's voluntary Code for Responsible Gaming Advertising now providing industry-wide guidance on transparency and responsible promotion. Ontario separately requires regulated operators to maintain responsible-gambling accreditation and participate in programs such as BetGuard. DraftKings says its Canadian platforms promote tools including deposit limits, cool-off periods and self-exclusion.

The real test will come over the full NHL season. DraftKings has secured the visibility. The question now is whether that visibility translates into stronger customer acquisition and retention without turning hockey broadcasts into one long sportsbook commercial. For Canada's increasingly crowded regulated betting market, that may be the more important development hiding underneath the sponsorship announcement.