DraftKings CEO Robins Ready for Competition, Sees Growth in Women’s Sports, Live Betting

Posted on: October 11, 2023, 09:42h. 

Last updated on: October 12, 2023, 09:45h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG) co-founder and CEO Jason Robins sees women’s sports and live wagering as likely growth drivers of the US sports betting industry going forward.

DraftKings
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins. He told G2E attendees the company is ready for competition and women’s sports betting is growing.(Image: Bloomberg)

Robins made related comments during Wednesday’s keynote address at the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) in Las Vegas where was joined on stage by FanDuel CEO Amy Howe and CNBC’s Contessa Brewer. Early in the conversation, the DraftKings chief executive officer acknowledged interest in wagering on women’s sports is gaining momentum.

Women’s sports is growing really rapidly,” said Robins. “The US Women’s National Team was the only team for us that was bet on more than (Inter) Miami with (Lionel) Messi. Definitely seeing tremendous growth in women’s sports, WNBA, everything.”

His comments mesh with recent data suggesting the WNBA’s two “superteams,” the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty, which are currently vying for the championship and which are spurring fresh interest in wagering on women’s basketball.

Robins Talks Technology

By some estimates, 90% or more of all regulated sports bets placed in the US are placed via personal computers or mobile devices, making reliable technology essential to customers and operators alike.

The industry has endured some well-documented technological snafus over the past several years, and righting that ship is essential in fostering customer confidence and gaining share in high-growth niches, such as same-game parlays (SGPs) and live betting.

“We’re starting to enter a phase where that’s been solved for (early tech issues) How do you innovate on top of that?” Robins opined. “How do you create new things that haven’t existed before? How do you bring new players in by making it a less intimidating experience, a little bit more user-friendly to a casual player who doesn’t know what minus 150 means?”

The DraftKings boss noted that the company’s base product, sports betting, has been around since the dawn of time and that the next step is innovation, adding that the US is leading the way when it comes to sports betting development and technology.

Bring on the Competition

As things stand today, the US sports wagering industry essentially functions in duopoly form with FanDuel and DraftKings controlling approximately 70% of the market. In 2018, the Supreme Court ruling on the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) sent the matter of regulated sports wagering to the states. Since then, FanDuel and DraftKings have amassed significant market share while multiple rivals have departed the market.

On the other hand, capitalism usually breeds competition and market share grips can be broken. As it pertains to the FanDuel/DraftKings duopoly, industry analysts believe Fanatics and Penn Entertainment’s ESPN Bet could be able competitors. Robins said DraftKings is ready for the competition, noting that even in mature markets overseas, there are always new entrants to those arenas.

“We’re in one of the most competitive markets in the world,” he told the G2E audience. “I think that anyone that thinks it’s over in the first inning is foolish.”