US-based online fantasy sports platform DraftKings has agreed a $250m series D investment from entertainment company Walt Disney at a $900m valuation, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
DraftKings runs a fantasy sports service that enables users to play individual games of fantasy sports rather than managing a team for an entire season.
Users bet real money on their team in any major sport, including football, golf, hockey, baseball, basketball, martial arts, martial arts and American football.
The company previously raised $41m in an August 2014 series C round led by Raine Group that also featured Redpoint Ventures, GGV Capital and Atlas Venture.
Redpoint led a $24m series B round in 2013 featuring GGV, Atlas and BDS Ventures, after Atlas had led a $9.8m series A round earlier that year. DraftKings raised $1.4m in seed funding in 2012 from Atlas Venture, Boston Seed Capital, Hub Angels, Angel Street Capital and angel investors.
In exchange for the series D funding, DraftKings will spend approximately $500m on advertising on ESPN, a global sports TV channel 80% owned by Walt Disney, with the other 20% held by media conglomerate Hearst Corporation.