As the US gambling industry continues to grow, DraftKings have released highly impressive second quarter financial results. Revenue was just short of $300 million with an increase of 320 per cent compared to the previous year.
The results cover three months up to 30 June 2021 with the reported revenue being $298 million, perhaps they’ll get to $300 million next time. The same period in 2020 had reported revenue of only $71 million, so what a year it has been for DraftKings. Their 2021 revenue guidance has been put up from $1.21 billion to $1.29 billion. That’s because “robust growth” is expected during the rest of this year.
Jason Robins is the co-founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board at DraftKings. He described their second quarter of 2021 as “particularly strong.” It’s been a period when the company has moved into new areas such as NFTs and media. Robins hopes that this expansion will “enable us to further grow our customer base and generate additional revenues through cross-selling to our existing players.”
One such deal has been with Genius Sports. A multi-year sports data supplier agreement was signed. This gives the company access to all the global sports data that Genius Sports possess.
Another area that has pleased Robins is that their move into sports betting in addition to the Fantasy Leagues has gone so well. Their move into this area is “substantially complete.” Only one state has to give approval to a sportsbook being launched.
Their mobile sports betting and iGaming footprint have also seen growth during this period. DraftKings now have an online sports betting presence in 12 states and that covers 25% of the US population. For iGaming, it’s four stages and 10% of the US population.
DraftKings CBO Ezra Kucharz says of the results. “”Our customers are at the forefront of all we do, and we are always working to better their experience and our products
Robins has previously said that it takes two to three years for them to become profitable when launching in a new state. That was the case in New Jersey which has seen increased profits in 2021. Now a couple other of states are reaching that time period.
The monthly unique payers figure has gone up by 281%. Robins believes that this is due to the product that they are providing to players. “We also try to come up with new and innovative things to keep people interested,” said Robins.
To DraftKings it’s about being an “entertainment product” rather than just competing with others in a growing industry. With other states likely to legalize gambling in the future, further growth for DraftKings seems to be the way forward.
