Bienvenido a DraftKings, la corona es tuya.
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said Friday the gaming giant will soon launch Spanish-language functionality. It is making the move to pre-empt demand ahead of the upcoming 2026 World Cup co-hosted in Mexico, as well as with eyes on California and Texas.
“If we can create the best experience there, if we can get there first and early, it gives us an opportunity to really build outsized share in that demographic,” Robins told investors and analysts on a Nov. 7 earnings call.
Potential waiting to be tapped
Census Bureau data estimates that as of last year, the U.S. was home to around 68 million Hispanic or Latino residents, representing approximately 20% of the total population. While not all of them may be Spanish-speaking first, DraftKings believes that catering to that demographic of sports fan and casual sports bettor could be a key differentiator for the company.
“That’s something we’ve actually been working on for a little while,” Robins added. “We have the World Cup coming up in 2026, how big an audience do we think there’s going to be for that that is Spanish language-first, and what kind of opportunity could that create? We’ve done some testing into Spanish-language media, directing to the English language product, to see if there is an incremental customer acquisition opportunity there. Between all the data points, we had a pretty good idea of what kind of opportunity this could represent.”
Robins also wondered aloud on the call how many Spanish-speaking people who already bet or may want to be in the future would make their choice of sportsbook based on where they can get a Spanish-language experience.
“I have to imagine there’s a lot of people who would prefer Spanish language, maybe even some who won’t use an English-language app.”
The key to la puerta?
A quick glance at where most Spanish-speaking people in the U.S. live, and it’s easy to understand why DraftKings thinks this is a good idea. While the exact numbers vary depending on the source, what doesn’t vary is the consensus on which two states have the most: California and Texas.
“It’s obviously a very fast-growing demographic in the United States, and some of the biggest states where those Spanish-speaking folks live haven’t even come online yet, like Texas and California,” Robins added. “So, you know, there’s much more incremental opportunity in the future as well.”
Those, of course, are the two states that major sportsbooks like DraftKings most wish they could legally offer online sports betting, the two that are constantly brought up on earnings calls and in other public comments from executives dreaming of a larger TAM. DraftKings does have a longstanding daily fantasy sports presence in California, although that avenue has a longer shadow cast over it since Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office publicly denigrated the vertical this summer.
I see a new app in your future
But things move fast in the gambling industry these days, and DraftKings may soon have a whole new level of exposure to the Golden and Lone Star States and their Spanish-speaking populations.
Little more than two weeks ago, DraftKings announced it had acquired CFTC-licensed derivatives exchange Railbird and that it would launch a DraftKings Predictions mobile app in the coming months.
On Thursday, the gaming giant said the quiet part loud: It will start offering sports event contracts with a focus on states where it cannot offer state-regulated sports betting. That, it said, is where the majority of the financial opportunity lies for a sportsbook entering for prediction markets.
Given that California and Texas are surely the top two targets for that strategy, wouldn’t now be the perfect time to launch Spanish-language functionality to cement first-mover advantage on the Predictions front, as well as to establish DraftKings as a gaming platform that caters directly to those who prefer Spanish to English?
SBC Americas reached out to DraftKings for more information on the Spanish plans, including whether the functionality is planned for DraftKings Predictions.
