DraftKings CEO Jason Robins is ensuring the sports betting and daily fantasy giant is maintaining its status as a leading operator in America’s gaming market.
Robins spoke during a fireside chat at the Bank of America’s Gaming and Lodging Conference about the current state of DraftKings and its plans amid a new NFL season.
“This is the equivalent for us like a holiday season, said Robins. “It’s where we get a ton of new customers, we reactivate a lot of customers. It’s a great time for us to really get a sense of what the next year is going to look like. I almost wish we started our fiscal year at the beginning of NFL season but it’s definitely exciting.”
DraftKings is providing its players with innovative products during football season to enhance the user experience. It is preparing to leverage BetVision, a live video feature powered by Genius Sports that provides low latency game broadcasts for live betting.
The operator has also improved its live-betting interface for simplicity and efficiency.
“That’s a big area of focus for us is driving live betting,” added Robins. “Having that BetVision integration will certainly help.”
Robins and DraftKings are also looking inward to find ways to drive profits and expand reach. In Q2 2024, Robins believes DraftKings could have streamlined its focus despite the company reporting $1 billion in revenue for a 26% year-over-year increase.
“There are a few things we could have done better,” said Robins. “We took our eye off the ball a little bit on hold rate and parlay mix. We were focusing on our early win and other types of things which is good at driving activity but we didn’t have the right cocktail.”
Big deal for DraftKings
DraftKings is in the midst of its most profitable season of the year after agreeing to a landmark acquisition last month. The Boston-based company has reached a deal to acquire micro-betting specialist Simplebet for an undisclosed amount. The deal is subject to regulatory approvals and could be worth up to $170 million, per Earnings+More.
Before the agreement, DraftKings held a 15% stake in Simplebet after the two companies agreed to a micro-betting partnership in 2021. DraftKings’ new deal to acquire the remaining 85% of Simplebet will improve profitability and operations for the company.
“On the basis of the cost savings alone, this was a very attractive deal for us,” continued Robins. “But the upside is, can we really continue to enhance our live betting product to a point where we are heads and tails ahead of the competition?”
DraftKings projects full-year revenue in FY2024 to range between $5 billion and $5.2 billion. It previously estimated revenue to range between $4.8 billion and $5 billion.
