DraftKings – Page 3 – FairOdds Network

August 21, 2024

NFLPA sues DraftKings over NFTs

On Wednesday (20 August) the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) filed a lawsuit against DraftKings and its parent company DK Crown Holdings, Inc in US District Court for the Southern District of New York stemming from DraftKings' July shutdown of the Reignmaker NFT.
The NFLPA is seeking damages for an “anticipated breach of contract”, claiming that it provided DraftKings with intellectual property rights licensing for NFL players. The product allows consumers to buy NFTs for use in fantasy sports contests.

Most documents around the lawsuit are under seal and the docket does not indicate when the seal may be lifted. The NFLPA’s attorney filed a court order asking to file redacted documents. David Greenspan, an antitrust, sports and complex-commercial litigator with the New York City firm Winston & Strawn LLP, is listed as the NFLPA counsel.

Greenspan has previously worked with athletes and has won multiple anti-trust class-action lawsuits against the NCAA. Those cases centred arou..

August 21, 2024

Michigan online gambling, sports betting AGR up YoY and month over month

Michigan's online gambling industry continues to grow, as July igaming and digital sports betting adjusted gross receipts (AGR) grew a combined 3.2% over June.
In addition, compared to July 2023, online gambling AGR was up 24.7% and sports betting was up 5.2%, according to the Michigan Gaming Control Board (MGCB), which released results on Tuesday (20 August).

But the big news was wagering hold. Digital sports betting operators recorded an 11.3% win rate in July, the fourth consecutive month of double-digit hold, according to the Sports Handle revenue database. That’s the second-highest hold since digital operators went live in January 2021.

The operators’ most successful month for hold was September 2022 – the second football season during which digital betting was live. That month, operators kept 13.15% of handle.

Overall, Michigan online gambling commercial and tribal operators reported a combined $220.9m (£169.4m/€198.4m) in gross receipts. Michigan has three land-based ..

August 16, 2024

State of the Union: DraftKings’ missteps, Missouri ballot measure

Welcome to iGB's State of the Union, a look at the biggest North American sports betting stories we've covered over the week and briefs on others we found interesting.
DraftKings has “no excuse” to consider surcharge “cash grab”
Less than an hour after Flutter’s second-quarter earnings call ended on Tuesday, DraftKings announced that, after hearing customer feedback, it will back off plans to impose a winners’ surcharge. The company announced the idea in early August, only to get swift and negative feedback.

Wall Street reacted positively on Wednesday. DraftKings’ shares were up as high as $33.50 per share before they settled at $32.06, up nearly 2%. While Rush Street Interactive and Penn Entertainment previously said they would not follow DraftKings’ lead, the company was clearly waiting to see how FanDuel would react.

“We have no plans to introduce a surcharge to winners,” CEO Peter Jackson said during the Q&A portion of the call. He then declined to entertain the issue..

August 16, 2024

Massachusetts operators hold 10.3% as Bally Bet makes debut

Massachusetts sportsbook operators were the winners in July, according to the Massachusetts Gaming Commission revenue report released on Thursday (15 August).
The state’s seven mobile operators and three retail operators combined for a 10.3% hold and handle was up significantly over July 2024.

Bally Bet, BetMGM, Caesars Sportsbook, DraftKings, ESPN Bet, Fanatics Sportsbook and FanDuel took a combined $405.3m (£315.3/€369.3m) in wagers compared to $294.9m in July 2023. Massachusetts’ handle was down against June’s $509.3m. Four digital operators recorded hold of over 10%.

Massachusetts operators paid more than $8m to the state in taxes.

Boston-based DraftKings retained its spot as the market-share leader, taking $202m in wagers, holding 10.3% and recording adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of $20.9m. FanDuel was second with $119.9m in handle and a hold of 10.97%.

Bally Bet had lowest hold of all operators
Massachusetts was back up to seven operators for July, after Bally Bet launched o..

August 12, 2024

Politics of DraftKings’ proposed winners’ tax – and how the US industry is responsible for high wagering taxes

There is an argument to be made that DraftKings put the gambling industry in a tough spot in 2019 when it agreed to a 51% tax rate in New Hampshire and that its latest idea to impose a surcharge in high-tax states is a consequence of that.
When DraftKings, in early August, rolled out its plan to essentially tax winners in states with a tax rate above 20%, reaction was overwhelming negative.

Since then, Rush Street Interactive CEO Richard Schwartz said his company won’t follow suit. And Penn Interactive’s Jay Snowden said during the company’s earnings call said that the idea was “interesting” and “unexpected”. He didn’t completely close the door on it, but the company has no plans to tax winners in the near future.

DraftKings says it will impose the surcharge beginning 1 January 2025.

DraftKings is the second-biggest US operator by market share. The only company ahead of it is FanDuel, which declined to comment on the topic. FanDuel’s parent company, Flutter, is set to release sec..

August 5, 2024

Rush Street Interactive won’t join DraftKings in introducing surcharge

Rush Street Interactive has no plans to introduce a surcharge for its players after DraftKings announced its plans to implement a gaming surcharge last Thursday (1 August).
Rush Street Interactive’s commitment to customer-centric policies in a Monday (5 August) press release follows DraftKings’ Q2 business update. DraftKings said its plans to “address high tax rates” involved introducing surcharge on winning bets in states with a tax rate exceeding 20% starting from 1 January 2025.

Rush Street Interactive and its brands, which include BetRivers and RushBet, says it is reaffirming its “dedication to providing exceptional value” for players by not following in DraftKings’ footsteps.

It was an “easy decision” for Rush Street Interactive CEO Richard Schwartz.

“RSI remains committed to maintaining its leadership position in the industry by continuously prioritising the needs and preferences of its players,” Schwartz explained.

“We believe that RSI’s focus on customer satisfaction, coupl..

August 3, 2024

After rolling out proposed winners’ tax, DraftKings projects $1bn in 2025 profits, fails to meet estimates

DraftKings founder Jason Robins has so much confidence in his company's product, that he is willing to risk driving customers away by charging them for winning in some states. During the company's second-quarter earnings call on Friday (2 August) he doubled down on that belief.
On Thursday (1 August) DraftKings announced that, beginning 1 January 2025, it will charge a surcharge on winnings on customers in high-tax (more than 20%) legal gaming states. A day later, the company announced that it expects between $900m-$1bn (£781m/€917m) in EBITDA in fiscal year 2025, which began 1 July.

The new fee, Robins explained in the call, is a sort of insurance, which he calls a “nominal” fee to bettors.

“It makes a huge difference to our ability to make a reasonable margin,” he told investors on Friday. “And more importantly [it will help us] to compete with the illegal market that pays no taxes and can invest 100% of revenue into their products.”

Robins banking on consumers to “ulti..

August 2, 2024

Bettors, analysts say “no thanks” to DraftKings’ surcharge idea

US sports betting operators have long been grappling with ways to navigate increasingly high tax rates. But DraftKings' new idea isn't sitting well with bettors or analysts.
DraftKings spurred debated among the wagering community on Thursday (1 August) when it announced plans to implement a gaming surcharge for players in high tax states.

In its Q2 business update, the company said it has “plan to address high tax states”. That is to “roll out a gaming tax surcharge” starting 1 January 2025. This will be applied to winning bets “in any state with a tax rate above 20% that has multiple sports betting operators”. Those criteria currently apply to New York, Illinois, Vermont and Pennsylvania.

New York’s tax rate is 51%, Pennsylvania is 36% and Vermont is 20%. Illinois recently implemented a sliding scale that caps out at 40% for the highest-earning operators. The bottom of the scale is 20%.

DraftKings asserted the surcharge will be “fairly nominal to the customer”. The only ..

August 1, 2024

Ohio: FanDuel passes DraftKings to retake the lead in June

Flutter Entertainment’s FanDuel retook the lead in the Ohio online sports betting market in June, a month in which statewide revenue and handle fell to a calendar-year low.
Players in Ohio spent a total of $529.8m (£413.6m/€490.7m) across online and retail during June. This is 46.4% ahead of last year but 13.4% behind May and lower than any month so far in 2024.

Online betting accounted for $516.1m of all bets in June, with retail contributing $13.7m.

Players won $473.6m while $5m worth of wagers were voided. This left $51.2m in gross gaming revenue, up 57.1% from last year but 24% less than May’s total.

Of all gross gaming revenue in June, $50.5m came from online betting and $724,376 retail sportsbooks.

June’s results mean for the year-to-date, gross gaming revenue in Ohio stands at $435.6m. This includes $428.5m from the online market and $7.1m the retail sector.

FanDuel leads the Ohio pack in June
Looking at individual operators, FanDuel recovered from its second-placed finish ..

July 23, 2024

DraftKings announces plans for DC sports betting launch

The pool of sports betting operators in Washington, DC got a little bit bigger on Tuesday (23 July) when DraftKings announced intentions to launch its platform in the newly opened competitive market.
With the addition of DC, DraftKings will have launched in 29 North American jurisdictions.

“We would like to thank the DC Council for creating a path to bring DraftKings’ top-rated sportsbook to the nation’s capital,” DraftKings’ North American president, Matt Kalish, said in a statement.

“Together with DC United, we look forward to delivering fans a best-in-class experience through our customer-friendly product.”

DraftKings will join FanDuel, BetMGM and Caesars Sportsbook in offering mobile sports betting throughout the District. The latter two operators went live in the nation’s capital on 17 July.

They had expected to launch two days earlier. But there was a short delay related to the city’s FY2025 budget, which included the provisions needed to open the marketplace from a monop..

July 23, 2024

DraftKings sells VSiN to Musburger Media

DraftKings has sold the Vegas Sports Information Network (VSiN) to Musburger Media for an undisclosed price after first acquiring the network for $70m in March 2021. The deal was announced on Monday (22 July).
As part of the deal, VSiN’s original founders, Brian Musburger and Bill Adee, will take back control of the company. The two men founded the sports betting network in 2017 and guided it through the original 2021 sale to DraftKings. The network features 18 hours of daily original betting-focused content and streams 24/7.

In a statement on Monday, Musburger said the “original vision for VSiN still holds” despite the relatively quick sell-off.

“We truly appreciate the work we’ve done with DraftKings and look forward to continuing to collaborate on future projects,” he said. “Bill and I couldn’t be more excited about leading VSiN into the future and cementing our position as a trusted authority in sports betting.”

DraftKings thanked VSiN “for a great relationship” and said it “..

July 15, 2024

Weekend Report: DraftKings to divest VSiN, Bermuda’s banks slow casino launch and more

Welcome to the Weekend Report, where iGB covers the news you may have missed over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This week we’ve got news of DraftKings cashing out of its big media bet, Bermuda’s casinos struggling for acceptance in the banking sector and more.

DraftKings turns off VSiN?

DraftKings could be preparing to sell off its sports betting media specialist Vegas Sports Information Network (VSiN), according to Eilers & Krejcik Gaming.

Original owner Brent Musburger is allegedly set to take back control of the TV and radio network, which was acquired by DraftKings for $70m back in 2021. Active since 2017, VSiN broadcasts 18 hours of content a day, across multiple markets and streaming platforms, at one time showing Betting Across America, a BetMGM-backed sports betting programme.

While the sale is not confirmed it would take a significant media asset out of DraftKings’ stable, although it still maintains a distribution deal with Meadowlark Media, as well as its own streaming..

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Tag: DraftKings