Super Bowl: DraftKings CEO on record weekend for US sports bets
Super Bowl weekend is knocking at the door and it could be one for the record books as Americans expect to wage a record $23 billion worth of sports bets over Sunday's Big Game. DraftKings (DKNG) Co-Founder and CEO Jason Robins joins Yahoo Finance Live to discuss what this year's Super Bowl signifies for the sports betting world.
"Obviously, this is the biggest weekend of the year for us,” Robins says, stipulating not just for sports bets but for when "we acquire and activate the most customers."
Robins finds there to be more interest from a wide variety of fans, that have been brought in by Taylor Swift and her proximity to the defending champions, the Kansas City Chiefs.
For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.
Editor's note: This article was written by Eyek Ntekim
Video Transcript
AKIKO FUJITA: Well, this Sunday's Super Bowl is expected to be one for the history books with a record 67.8 million Americans expected to wager an estimated $23 billion, according to the American Gaming Association, as the big game heads to Las Vegas for the first time ever. For more on what to expect, we are joined by DraftKings CEO Jason Robins. Jason, it feels like all the forces have aligned for DraftKings going into the Super Bowl.
You're in Vegas. You've got the Super Bowl. You've got all the fans looking to bet here. Talk to me about the windfall you're looking at. How big are the numbers going into this weekend?
JASON ROBINS: Oh, we report earnings next week, so I can't really get into numbers. But obviously, this is the biggest weekend of the year for us. It's not just the biggest weekend from a betting volume standpoint, it's also when we acquire and activate the most customers.
You just showed the huge number of Americans that are betting. Most of them still betting in the illegal markets. Still a ton of room left to grow just by tapping into people who are already betting with more state legalization, just more adoption of legal mainstream sports betting.
RACHELLE AKUFFO: And Jason, how much are you seeing outside of the supporters of the teams who are already supporting this game? For your regular non-football viewer, of course, because of Taylor Swift also coming in to watch these games as well and perhaps wanting to place a flutter there, how much of an expansion are you seeing in terms of getting new audiences into sports betting?
JASON ROBINS: Well, anecdotally, we're certainly hearing it. It's still early. Believe it or not, most of the action actually comes in in more of like the Saturday, Sunday time frame.
So I haven't actually gotten updated stats yet on customer acquisition and if we're seeing new demographics. But anecdotally, you're certainly hearing more interest from a wider variety of fans. You know, I definitely give Taylor credit for that. She's brought some new fans to the game.
And I think the Super Bowl is a perfect moment where anyone really can bet because you can bet on things like the coin toss or the color of the Gatorade that'll be dumped on the coach, the winning coach at the end, and all sorts of stuff. That even if you're not actually a fan of the sport, it's just fun stuff to bet on along watching different aspects of the game. So I think it's great kind of opportunity to not just bring in new fans because of the Taylor impact, which is obviously real, but also because of the fact that it's the Super Bowl, and it's just so mainstream and everybody watches it, and there's all kinds of cool stuff you can bet on.
AKIKO FUJITA: So Jason, you may not be able to reveal the numbers going into this weekend, but I'm curious, when you look at past Super Bowls, how critical the event is for a company like DraftKings in getting new users, new people on board? And how sticky is it? Is it just one and done for the game or do oftentimes those users stick around?
JASON ROBINS: Well, it's a great question. So definitely, the Super Bowl is the day that we acquire the most customers, activate the most customers. And you know from that reason alone just cast a wide net, you're going to get more casual people in there.
And so yes, there are people that just kind of come for the Super Bowl and maybe they come back for March Madness or something like that, but they're not regularly betting on NBA or other sports. And then there's people that have been betting all season that this is our chance to activate them. Maybe they were playing with competitors, maybe they were doing other things. And also, there's people that have been with us all year and it's just a great opportunity to continue to engage them and give them fun stuff to bet on and hopefully get them excited about coming back and betting on other sports or at least coming back for next NFL season.
