DraftKings Insiders Sold Nearly $206M in Stock This Year

Posted on: December 31, 2024, 04:50h. 

Last updated on: December 31, 2024, 04:50h.

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

Barring any new filings that emerge in the days ahead, DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG) insiders appear to have sold nearly $206 million worth of the gaming company’s shares in 2024 as the stock notched a market-lagging performance.

DraftKings insiders
DraftKings founders (from left) Paul Liberman, Jason Robins and Matthew Kalish seen in Boston in 2015. Insiders at the company dumped nearly $206 million worth of stock this year. (Image: Boston Globe)

Following December sales by Chief Legal Officer R. Stanton Dodge and co-founder Paul Liberman totaling more than $30 million, DraftKings insiders dumped $205.54 million of the gaming company’s equity in 2024, according to MarketBeat data, extending a trend decried by retail investors.

Adding to market participants disdain for insider selling at DraftKings is the fact that high-ranking executives at the sportsbook operator aren’t buying any stock. Of the 20 insider transactions this year listed by MarketBeat, including those by co-founders Liberman and CEO Jason Robins — all are sales and none are purchases.

The “positive” is that insider selling at DraftKings waned as 2024 moved along. After totaling roughly $66 million in the first quarter, that figure declined to $61 million in the April through June period. It fell to $45 million in the third quarter before dropping to $34 million in the final three months of the year.

DraftKings insider selling
A chart of insider sales at DraftKings. (Image: MarketBeat)

DraftKings Performance Exacerbates Insider Selling

The consistent spate of insider selling at DraftKings accrued against the backdrop of tepid returns for investors. Shares of the gaming company rose just 5.53% this year.

Not only did that performance significantly lag the returns of the Nasdaq 100, S&P Select Sector Consumer Discretionary, and S&P 500 indexes — each of which gained more than 25% this year — it also badly trailed rival Flutter Entertainment (NYSE: FLUT). The parent company of FanDuel — DraftKings’ most direct competitor — surged 44.39% in 2024.

Arguably making matters worse for DraftKings shareholders is the fact that Flutter insiders aren’t frequent sellers of the stock. Over the past three months, there have been no insider transactions — buys or sales — at the Irish gaming company.

In September, Flutter announced a $5 billion share repurchase program, dwarfing the $1 billion buyback plan announced by DraftKings in August.

Insider Selling Light at Other DraftKings Rivals, Too

The insider selling at DraftKings stands out because comparable action at rival iGaming/online sports betting operators was light this year and that’s true even when excluding Flutter from the equation.

For example, insider selling at Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR) was less than $350,000 over the past year and in the first two quarters of 2024, high-ranking executives at the Caesars Sportsbook owner bought significantly more stock than they sold.

At ESPN Bet parent Penn Entertainment (NASDAQ: PENN), insiders bought $2.61 million worth of shares over the past year compared to sales of just $126,578, according to MarketBeat data. In terms of number of transactions, buys outnumbered sales at Penn by a 4-to-1 margin.