Delta and DraftKings Add Sports Contests to In-Flight Entertainment

Delta Air Lines and DraftKings teamed to offer passengers a sports-related in-flight entertainment option.

SkyPicks, announced last year and available beginning Wednesday (July 29), is offered through the Delta Sync WiFi system and lets fans use their sports expertise to win Delta gift cards, with no wagering, deposits, money or miles involved, according to a Wednesday press release.

“With Delta Sync, our goal is to create an onboard experience that offers something for every customer—one that’s connected to what customers love on the ground,” Ranjan Goswami, chief marketing and product officer at Delta, said in the release. “For many of our customers, that includes sports. SkyPicks brings that passion onboard in a fun, free-to-play way, giving SkyMiles members another way to engage with the games and conversations they love while they fly.”

The program is launching with MLB matches, and NFL games are coming once the professional football season gets underway, according to the release. Delta SkyMiles members 21 and older can use their laptops or mobile devices to make predictions tied to actual sporting events, with top scorers eligible to win a Delta gift card toward their next trip.

Delta said earlier this month that its digital tools are improving customer satisfaction while helping passengers reach their destinations. During the company’s latest earnings call, Chief Operating Officer Dan Janki spotlighted enhanced digital tools that include a simplified rebooking process, expanded self-service and the airline’s artificial intelligence-powered digital assistant, Delta Concierge.

“Our customers are noticing,” Janki said of these offerings. “This has driven more than a 25-point improvement in NPS [Net Promoter Score] during periods of irregular operation.”

Meanwhile, DraftKings last month introduced a proprietary, vertically integrated foundation for its prediction markets experience, DraftKings Predictions, and embedded it into the DraftKings: Sports & Casino app. The proprietary exchange, DKeX, and its integration into the app will let DraftKings innovate more rapidly.

“DKeX provides a vertically integrated foundation for DraftKings Predictions, strengthening our prediction markets content and capabilities, giving us greater control over the technology that powers those offerings, and enabling us to move faster as we continue enhancing our unified app,” DraftKings Co-Founder and CEO Jason Robins said in a June 26 press release.