ESPN cuts sponsored daily fantasy sports elements from news shows, keeps commercials

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – ESPN is cutting sponsored DraftKings elements from within its shows but not commercials from the daily fantasy sports site. That’s according to ESPN Outside the Lines host Bob Ley, who revealed the shift during his show Tuesday.

The change comes as daily fantasy sports behemoths DraftKings and FanDuel respond to reports a DraftKings employee may have accessed valuable company data before winning second place in a FanDuel contest, an incident likened to possible insider trading. The companies say there’s no evidence anyone misused internal data.

ESPN says in a statement Tuesday’s change affected DraftKings billboards appearing during news shows, the clips saying a segment was “brought to you by” the company, calling the removal a standard procedure when “covering significant news, to avoid any suggestion of influence on our coverage.”