During a wide-ranging earnings call Friday, DraftKings CEO and co-founder Jason Robins was optimistic about the company’s prospects for 2025.
“We just wrapped up our 13th year at DraftKings, and I am more confident than ever in our growth trajectory and ability to capitalize on the substantial opportunity ahead of us,” Robins said.
The company’s fourth-quarter report bolsters Robins’ outlook. DraftKings reported revenue of $1.39 billion, up $162 million, or 13 percent, compared to $1.23 million in same period in 2023.
Revenue for 2024 reached $4.7 billion, up from $3.6 billion in 2023. There were 3.5 million customers acquired at a record low customer acquisition cost, Robins said, that increased DraftKings’ customer base by 42 percent year-over-year.
Robins said there are still areas for potential growth, most notably in-play wagering, which has yet to reach its potential in the United States.
“Most customers are not going to come in and make their first bet as a live bet,” Robins said, “but of a pre-match bet. It’s really … getting our existing customers to continue to adopt live betting. As you look at the trends overseas, that’s sort of the story, right? … So, we definitely feel like there’s some sort of upside here. U.S. sports are very well-built for in-play betting.”
Robins was a bit more cautious about the possibility of new markets emerging in the United States. But he noted that DraftKings will closely monitor the opening of new jurisdictions.
“There’s a whole lot of things that have to happen between now and when the ultimate decisions get made on which states want to move forward with new legislation, and anything else that happens in other states, including tax decisions,” Robins said. “We’re obviously right in the thick of things with our lobbying team, trying to make sure that we’re getting our points made and we’re helping push forward the policy that we believe is the correct policy, which is to have broad legislation with reasonable regulations and tax rates, so that operators like us are able to compete with illegal markets, which are generating billions and billions of dollars every year.”
Robins added that he’s hopeful for more of a focus by legislators this year in terms of legalizing sports betting in more jurisdictions simply because 2024 was an election year, and “getting votes on gaming during an election year is hard. People are just distracted by campaigns and also don’t want to take up any sort of issue that they would see as mildly controversial.”
In 2025, Robins promised there will be product launches, including new items before the start of MLB’s season.
“The biggest time of the year for us to roll things out is just before the NFL season,” Robins said. “A lot of planning and effort goes into making sure that we have the best possible product for the NFL and the NBA after that.”
Another item to keep an eye on: cryptocurrency. While DraftKings doesn’t accept cryptocurrency, the company is monitoring developments.
“Regulators typically are cautious around crypto in the states,” Robins said. “Obviously, at a federal level, there’s a lot of pro-crypto deregulation, I think, coming. Certainly, that will affect the states’ perspective. But they still need to get comfortable and there’s only a handful of states that are open to it.”
