National Basketball Association franchises? deal with daily fantasy sports application FanDuel points to basketball?s ability to attract younger, mobile-savvy fans who are increasingly drawn to fantasy sports. 

Thirteen NBA clubs including the Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat will give fans on mobile a way to engage with their favorite teams and players while FanDuel gets access to in-arena digital signage, in-game promotions and other marketing assets. The deal points to how fantasy sports could grow through basketball fandom, which has a younger and more mobile-savvy base than baseball or football.

?Basketball has been a huge growth area for FanDuel, and because of that, we are doubling the number of team partnerships we're doing for this upcoming season,? said FanDuel spokeswoman Emily Bass. ?The basketball demographic is younger and more mobile and we?ve seen a general spike in younger users on FanDuel during basketball season.?

The NBA clubs in the deal are the Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, Charlotte Hornets, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, Milwaukee Bucks, Orlando Magic and Utah Jazz. 

The deals come on top of FanDuel?s exclusive multiyear deal with the NBA announced late last year and its partnerships with 16 National Football League teams.

Under the latest agreement, NBA clubs will play host to FanDuel-supported player meet-and-greets and VIP road trips to events such as the Dallas Mavericks GM for the Day Program, Backstage Access to NBA All-Star Weekend and the NBA Fantasy Playoffs Championship.

For clubs, hooking up with fantasy sports brands is a way to tap into a fresh fan base. FanDuel?s iOS app has seen nearly one million downloads. 

A recent FanDuel NBA Fantasy Playoffs user survey showed that 34.2 percent of FanDuel users were aged 18-35.

The winner of FanDuel?s GM for a Day Program with the Dallas Mavericks got the opportunity to shadow Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson. He also received an ?official contract? with the manager and was allowed to take in a team practice, get his jacket autographed by the entire squad, walk the tunnel with the players, sit courtside for the game, and meet Mark Cuban, who is both the Mavs owner and a star of the upcoming made for TV disaster film Sharknado 3.

Mobile-based and daily fantasy games are helping to drive the steady, continued increase in the number of fantasy-sports participants in the United States and Canada. More than 41 million people participate in fantasy-sports, according to Ipso Public Affairs, up about 13 percent from 2012 and a 25 percent jump from 2010.

Last July, Sports Illustrated unveiled FanNation, a free mobile application for daily fantasy gameplay available on mobile devices and the Web.

The unit of Time Inc. partnered with TopLine Game Labs to create the app, which features a suite of daily games devoted to baseball, football, basketball and hockey and allows fans to compete for bragging rights and cash prizes.

In November, The National Hockey League began featuring daily sports fantasy Web site DraftKings on its mobile Web site and application as it leveraged the correlation between fan engagement and fantasy sports.

?Our team partners are embracing the daily fantasy model and partnering with these deals gives us added access to their fans,? Ms. Bass said. 

 

?We are partnering with teams to present opportunities for this younger, mobile-centric demographic and ultimately increase fan engagement.?