Sports betting industry growth ensures ‘this will be our biggest Super Bowl ever’: DraftKings CEO
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss the sports betting operator's position ahead of the Super Bowl this Sunday, the multitude of types of bets customers can make, live betting trends, and the outlook for legalized gaming across the U.S.
Video Transcript
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- 50-- 50 million Americans expected to throw down $16 billion in bets on Super Bowl LVII. Let's dig into those numbers with DraftKings CEO Jason Robbins. Jason, good to see you, man. 33 states now legal. How big is this weekend for you guys compared to anything you've seen in the past? What are your expectations?
JASON ROBBINS: Well, I mean, given the growth of the industry, this is almost certainly going to be our biggest Super Bowl ever. And you know, hard to know. We always have predictions around the office going in, because it's such a fun time. But one thing we know is it's going to be a big day. We know it's going to be our biggest customer acquisition day. And we're all excited to see the results.
By the way, I heard in the other set you're betting on red for the Gatorade? Did I hear that right?
- Do I have the wrong color, bro?
JASON ROBBINS: Listen, I don't know. But somebody told me-- and you should verify this, because I did not verify it myself, that there has never been red Gatorade poured on the winning coach in the Super Bowl.
- Ooh, bad--
- So maybe this is the year. But just a little hot take for you to check out. I mean, I could be totally wrong on that. It was something somebody told me. But you should check that out.
- Betting scoop. I appreciate that, buddy. That is a solid. I had my eye on like an Eagles green. So I'm going to have to look at the odds here on DraftKings.
- I was going to say, geez, I think I picked orange. Hopefully my odds are a little bit better than what Dave is facing right now. But Jason, you talk about the popularity of sports betting. Certainly we have seen massive growth over the last several years with the Super Bowl in Arizona, like we're talking about, the first state with statewide legalized sports gambling here.
In terms of the number of users that you are expected to add, can you put a number on that?
JASON ROBBINS: We can't. I mean, one, we actually have earnings next week. So I got to be careful about saying anything like that. But also, it's just tough to predict. I mean, so much comes in towards the end in the last day, and even in the last hours. And so hard to say. But I know that we think it'll be our biggest day ever. And that's been the case for the last three Super Bowls, or last-- excuse me-- four Super Bowls since legalized sports betting as well.
- Jason, I'm curious what you're seeing out of the live betting space. Obviously I think it being in Arizona probably helps, right, with people being excited while they're at the game to probably bet during the game while they're sitting in the stands. I know often we talk about that year up number, right? Maybe getting to 70%, 75% of all bets, or all handle being in that live betting space. Do you think we eventually get there? Or is that where things are headed? How have you sort of seen those trends?
JASON ROBBINS: You know, live betting continues to increase. I think whether we get there, or higher, or a little low, I don't know. But I think it's going to continue to grow. I think more and more people are starting to see that you could make that during the game.
And that doesn't just mean things like what's the next play or something like that. Some people decide, hey, maybe at halftime they want to double down on the bet they made before the game. Or maybe they want to, you know, switch sides, or something like that. So lots of options throughout the game.
We also-- you mentioned Arizona. This is the first year-- first year since legalized sports betting outside of Nevada that you will have a Super Bowl in a state with legal sports betting. So really excited to see how that plays out. I agree with you. I think it's going to have a tremendous halo effect on the state.
Because not only the people at the game, but all the people that are in Arizona that know that the Super Bowl is here and are paying attention. And we're doing everything we can to let all the people come in and from out of town know, hey, while you're here you can make a bet. And I think you're going to see a lot of fans take us up on that.
- Yeah, that is interesting. And next year it'll be the second in a row because it's in Vegas.
JASON ROBBINS: Yeah.
- But in terms of the big picture, certainly all the momentum is on the side of sports gambling. But those three big states are out there, California, Texas, and Florida. What went wrong in California? And when do you see any of those three states turning legal?
JASON ROBBINS: Well, I mean, California it's pretty simple. We had over $200 million in opposition spent against us. I think, you know, 8 times maybe-- it's close to that, the next biggest opposition spend of any campaign. So you know, we were literally attacked with a barrage of ads, many of them pushing false narratives.
But not much you can do in a short cycle. And people hear what they hear. And unfortunately, I think some incorrect facts got out there. So you know, I think first we're going to try to work with the tribes. Obviously that's a much easier path than trying to fight them.
And nobody wants that. We actually had in our ballot initiative revenue going to the tribes. We had tethering to the tribes. Everything had to flow through the tribes.
And you know, we're going to hopefully get another year, another I guess two years from now. Well, one year from now we're going to be able to potentially take another shot. And I think we have to learn from last time and educate a little better, and be smarter about it. So we'll see on that one.
Texas is in play this year. I think there's a live bill that has a decent shot of advancing. And we'll have to see. Obviously a lot to play out in the legislative session. So you know, I think those are the two biggest states. Florida you mentioned, also a tribal state. So it has some of the same dynamics.
But in that case, it's really one tribe, the Seminoles. So you know, trying to figure out a way to collaborate with them I think. And hopefully that's where the industry is going. There's just more collaboration, and everybody realizes that a rising tide will lift all ships.
And you know, I think that's something that we're seeing slowly but surely the trend move towards. But still a lot of work to do there, and especially in those big states. They're big prizes, so they are obviously going to be a lot of interest and a lot of stakeholders.
- All right, Jason Robbins, CEO of DraftKings, always great to have you. Thanks so much. Have fun this weekend.
JASON ROBBINS: Thanks for having me. Thank you so much.
