From Takeoff to Touchdown: Delta, DraftKings Bring In-Flight Sports Contests to 35,000 Feet

Delta Air Lines and DraftKings have taxied the runway and taken off on a new in-flight sports contest experience that gives users the chance to win free travel credits.

Delta and DraftKings have launched SkyPicks, a free-to-play in-flight sports contest that allows fliers to engage with sports in a new way. Customers launch SkyPicks from the Delta Synch Wi-Fi onboard entertainment homepage to make a series of predictions on upcoming games.

SkyPicks asks players to answer a series of game questions, like who will score first, which team will win, and a final score tiebreaker. Those who finish atop the weekly leaderboard receive Delta Gift Cards.

“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. For many of our customers, that includes sports,” said Ranjan Goswami, Delta’s chief marketing and product officer.

“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,” Goswami added.

SkyPicks to Real Picks

DraftKings teaming up with Delta will ideally convert some in-flight sports contest participants into real money sports bettors or sports prediction market users.

The partners, however, say Delta fliers who participate in SkyPicks won’t automatically become DraftKings Sportsbook customers unless they complete the normal registration process in a state where sports betting is legal.

“DraftKings designed SkyPicks as a free-to-play experience that does not permit customers to place real-money wagers while in-flight in compliance with federal regulation. New customers who later choose to download the DraftKings: Sports & Casino app after reaching their destination must complete DraftKings’ standard registration process before they can participate in any real-money sports betting or trading on the platform,” the release on SkyPicks explained.

SkyPicks launched on July 29 and is initially offering sports contests involving MLB games. Once the NFL season kicks off, football will be added to the list of prediction questions.

In-Flight Gambling

In 1981, Singapore Airlines made history by becoming the first and only major airline to offer on-board slot machines. The airline installed several lightweight physical slot machines on a single aircraft operating between Singapore and San Francisco.

The amenity was short-lived, as the carrier said the machines posed regulatory, operational, and spatial challenges.

Since 2009, Irish airline Ryanair has sold scratch-off cards for a chance of winning cash, airline miles, and entries into an annual $1 million jackpot.

In 2004, the airline announced its plans to offer an in-flight iGaming product, but later shelved the project after realizing that satellite internet was too slow and expensive to operate for online casino games.

Cruise ships can offer gambling once they reach international waters, but lawmakers did not extend similar considerations to air travel.

The United States-Flag Cruise Ship Competitiveness Act of 1991 addressed gaming at sea, while Congress three years later passed the Gorton Amendment, which prohibited air carriers flying into or out of the United States from installing or operating gambling devices on aircraft.

Before the 1994 law, some foreign airlines serving US routes offered passengers the chance to gamble in the sky in some form.