DraftKings CEO lifts lid on product roadmap amid “slower grind” Ontario push

DraftKings co-founder, CEO and chairman Jason Robins has outlined a push by the US sportsbook heavyweight to further develop its same-game parlay betting product as competition in the sports betting vertical intensifies.

Speaking as part of the Boston-headquartered firm’s Q2 2022 financial results, Robins confirmed the launch of new merchandizing zones in the sportsbook app geared around same-game parlay markets, suggesting more was on the development radar.

“I think that first step for us is to build the product and then obviously, as we continue to enhance that product, add more markets, bring more in-house, we also are focusing on how we market it and merchandise it in the app better,” Robins told investors.

“Really, for us, it’s about having it feel native, not feeling like we’re pushing something on the customer.

“We use fun names that are in line with the sorts of things that we would name our daily fantasy contest, that sports fans we think would find enjoyable and at times humorous and just try to give them some personality and then really, it’s all database.

Robins continued: “We test things to see what works. We’re working on updating our data science engine so that those things become fully personalized. They’re not yet, but we’re working on that.

“There’s a lot of behind the scenes work too that really optimizes getting the right thing in front of the right customer at the right time,” he added.

In its Q2 report DraftKings noted a 57% year on year (YoY) revenue increase to $466m, punctuated by a 29% decrease in its net losses, which reduced to $217m over the same period.

Adjusted EBITDA losses, however, continued to deepen, rising 24% YoY from $95m in Q2 2021 to $118m in the same period of 2022.

One market which has the potential to boost DraftKings’ coffers is Ontario, where the firm launched in April following the opening of the Canadian province for commercial sports betting.

Latest market data suggests DraftKings is ranking behind operators including PointsBet and theScore which both have extensively leveraged relationships with Canadian media personalities and teams.

Robins was coy when asked about DraftKings’ progress since launch, suggesting the things were proceeding in a way that was “expected” in its initial thinking when approaching the market.

“We always said that we didn’t think we’d be able to achieve quite the same share as we believe we will be able to achieve in the US, Robins told investors.

“We have projected a market share 10% to 20% in Ontario as opposed to 20% to 30% in US states.

“We also always had said pretty consistently that we thought it would be more of a slower grind given the nature of the market where there was just a lot of continuity between the gray market and now versus, I think, US states, which when they open up, it’s really more greenfield.

Robins continued: “Those are some real key differences and for those reasons, we always sort of felt in Canada we can achieve strong share, but probably wouldn’t have quite the same ceiling that we believe we have in the US and don’t have the same expectations that we have in the US.

“That being said, we’ve always had a very strong DFS database there.

“We have a brand that’s fairly well known in Canada and I think for those reasons, we do feel like we can do well there,” the DraftKings CEO added.

This year’s NFL season could be a watershed one for DraftKings, as it looks to claw back market share lost to US market leader FanDuel and emerging competitor BetMGM.

Robins for his part, isn’t thinking about competitors strategies going into the new campaign, and suggested he felt “very good” about the sportsbook firm’s plans this year, suggesting the firm had weathered concerted strategic pushes by its market rivals.

“We’re just continuing to focus on our own plans and making sure that we’re being very customer-centric and doing the things that we think will help us have the strongest market share over the long term.

“My hope certainly is that, we gain share, I can’t really speak for others. We’re not privy to some of the plans they have but I think on our end, we feel pretty excited about the plans we have for NFL season,” he added.