DraftKings CEO Robins Reveals Sports Betting Already Crushing For Company Overall

The numbers are beginning to show that DraftKings’ metamorphosis from a daily fantasy sports operator to sportsbook-first company is moving at Ludicrous Speed. The DFS aspect of the company isn’t going anywhere, but the revenue and obviously growth potential in the U.S. is in legal sports betting.

At the ICE Sports Betting USA conference in Manhattan on Wednesday, DraftKings Co-Founder and CEO Jason Robins told Darren Rovell (who himself switched jerseys from ESPN to Action Network mid-conference) that 20 percent of the company’s business is currently being generated through sports betting. In New Jersey, where the DraftKings Sportsbook was first to market in the state in August, Robins said sports betting represents 80 percent of the company’s revenue.

In other words, the sports betting revenue being generated in just one state*, roughly four months post-launch, is currently accounting for 20 percent of the company’s overall revenue coming nationwide via daily fantasy sports contests.

DraftKings Sportsbook Already Driving 20 Percent of Company’s Revenue; Full Speed Ahead For Familiar Players As Expansion Continues

 

 

Read more DraftKings CEO Robins Reveals Sports Betting Already Crushing For Company Overall on SportsHandle.

New Jersey Sports Betting Handle Surges to $261M, Revenue ‘Just’ $11M As Bettors Exact Revenge

The good news for the New Jersey sportsbooks in the newly released revenue report for October is a large jump in handle from $186 million in September to $261 in October. The downside is that the bettors took a bigger bite of the books this month than usual, cutting revenue by more than half month-over-month from $24 million in September to “just” $11.7 million in October.

Overall that spells a 4.4 percent hold, down from 13 percent in Sept., which may be partly attributable to baseball (more on this below) and perhaps moreso a lot of “public” teams covering the spread in October NFL contests. The rise in betting handle is almost entirely attributable to the mobile/one sector, which grew from $105 million in September to $174 million in October. On-site sports betting inched up from $79 million in the prior month to $86 million.

Resorts Digital continues to lead the way by a lap on the revenue front, reporting $5.1 million in October, which is nearly half of the entire haul across all sportsbooks for the month. An arm of Resorts Casino, Resorts Digital figures represent DraftKings Sportsbook as well as BetStarsNJ.com.  We can no longer parse out which side is driving what, but based on prior figures we can safely say that DraftKings is responsible for the lion’s as well as the cub’s share. Let’s dig in a litter deeper now.

 

October Brick-and-Mortar Sportsbook Revenue:

  • Bally’s: $303K
  • Borgata: $120K
  • Golden Nugget: $46K
  • Harrah’s: $104K
  • Meadowlands (FanDuel Sportsbook): $1.1 million
  • Monmouth Park: $606K
  • Ocean Resort: $438K
  • Resorts: $97K
  • Tropicana: $15K

A spokesperson for FanDuel Sportsboook said: “Demand for the FanDuel Sportsbook continues to outpace our expectations with online handle 2.5 times higher than September and continued double digit growth in retail handle. It was an exciting month for bettors who won at a high rate on football and benefitted from our industry-leading pricing and odds boosts.”

October Online Sportsbook Revenue:

  • Bally’s (combination of CaesarsCasino & 888sport): $108K
  • Borgata (PlayMGM): $67K
  • FanDuel Sportsbook (Meadowlands): $2.43 million
  • Golden Nugget (PlaySugarHouse): $151K
  • Monmouth Park (William Hill and PlaySugarHouse): $609K
  • Ocean Resort (William Hill): $385K
  • Resorts Digital (combination of DK Sportsbook and BetStarsNJ.com):  $5.1 million
 

Read more New Jersey Sports Betting Handle Surges to $261M, Revenue ‘Just’ $11M As Bettors Exact Revenge on SportsHandle.

Physical DraftKings Sportsbook Set to Open At Resorts In Atlantic City

For the second time this week, DraftKings has announced the forthcoming opening of a physical sportsbook — this time where the post-PASPA U.S. sports betting expansion started, in New Jersey*.

“Construction is near completion on the DraftKings Sportsbook at Resorts, slated to open by late November 2018,” pending approval from the state’s Division of Gaming Enforcement. The Associated Press reports a more specific date — Tuesday, Nov. 20.  According to the AP, the sportsbook will be situated in an area where patrons can access it via an entrance off the Atlantic City boardwalk.

But wait, didn’t Resorts already open a sportsbook over the summer, branded Resorts, in conjunction with SB Tech? Indeed it did, but apparently there’s room for more than one operation to co-exist under the same roof, same as the digital arms for each property, which can implement up to three “skins” online.

 

Read more Physical DraftKings Sportsbook Set to Open At Resorts In Atlantic City on SportsHandle.

September New Jersey Sports Betting Handle Jumps to $184M, Revenue $24M

In Las Vegas on Tuesday, New Jersey Director of the State’s Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) David Rebuck said that the September sports betting financial reports would be stunning.

They weren’t quite stunning, but the numbers were pretty huge: $184 million betting handle across retail sports betting operations at Atlantic City casinos and two racetracks, with the majority of the betting handle coming online, $104.8 million, versus $79 million across counters in person. Total revenue was just about $24 million, or a roughly 13 percent hold (which is a bit inflated as a result of accounting methods, explained below).

Month-over-month, the $184M represents nearly a doubling from the $96 million betting handle and $9.2 million revenues in August, when only the DraftKings Sportsbook was operating online the entire month, to be joined in Sept. by FanDuel Sportsbook, SugarHouse, William Hill and others. Below let’s dig a bit closer into the numbers.

 

Read more September New Jersey Sports Betting Handle Jumps to $184M, Revenue $24M on SportsHandle.

Source: DraftKings, MLB Partnering On Groundbreaking Sports Betting App

A major collaboration between Major League Baseball (MLB) and DraftKings, the leading Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) operator, will be a part of a series of major announcements at next week’s Global Gaming Expo (G2E) convention in Las Vegas, Sports Handle has learned.

A source with knowledge of the negotiations says DraftKings will announce plans for a new, comprehensive sports wagering app that will include the ability to stream MLB games. The source says that, at first, the app would only have DFS play options available, but would soon allow full-fledged, single-game betting as well — in legal, regulated markets such as New Jersey, where the DraftKings Sportsbook was first to market in August with its online sportsbook and mobile apps.

Neither DraftKings nor MLB was available late Friday to comment on the move that would create a groundbreaking synergy between a major sports league and a sports wagering outlet.

‘Pro Football Handle’ Week 5: Seahawks-Rams, Jaguars-Chiefs, DraftKings Moves and Much More

The post ‘Pro Football Handle’ Week 5: Seahawks-Rams, Jaguars-Chiefs, DraftKings Moves and Much More appeared first on SportsHandle.

On The Pro Football Handle podcast, Las Vegas-based sports talk voice Matt Perrault and veteran bookmaker Robert Walker of USBookmaking dive into select NFL games, line movements and bookmaker liabilities, plus greater sports betting topics and stories that may have nothing to do with football. Walker has seen it all behind the counter and Perrault the same from behind the microphone, so they’ll have you prepared for anything.

Happy NFL Week 5! More pretty high totals this week with several games at 50-plus and the Atlanta Falcons at Pittsburgh Steelers even approaching 60. Will the Kansas City Chiefs (-3) stay perfect (against the spread and otherwise) with QB phenom Patrick Mahomes — with the Jaguars coming to Arrowhead? And can the Super Bowl-favorite L.A. Rams keep the momentum against the Seattle Seahawks and the “12th Man” as a touchdown favorite on the road?

Spotify fans go here to listen.  Time codes for the episode follow below. Your feedback is welcome at @sports_handle.

1:05: Some industry news: DraftKings has hired two veteran, well-respected Nevada sportsbook executives week. These moves are a big win for DraftKings and its growing stable of bookmaking talent. The guys also explore casino protectionism and the future of online betting.

15:10: Indianapolis Colts -10 at New England Patriots (Thursday night)–  Sources tell Perrault Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski will not play, while the Colts are riddled with injuries. The line is surprisingly high and puts the public and the pros may be on the same side.

21:00: The state of penalties in NFL.

26:21: Oakland Raiders +5 at L.A. Chargers — Chargers players say they are frustrated about home games feeling like road games, and linemakers agree.

29:40: Baltimore Ravens -3 at Cleveland Browns — Lines opened at Baltimore -1, now it’s out to  -3. The Ravens are not a public team, but they may be best team in AFC.

32:27: Game of the Week: Jacksonville Jaguars +3 at Kansas City Chiefs: Perrault says, Kansas City fans buy into their teams way too fast. Mahomes MVP talk and best QB in NFL already? The Chiefs are due to get beaten down.

36:42: Atlanta Falcons +3 at Pittsburgh Steelers — Are the Steelers favored because they are home or because they are a public (but totally ordinary) team?

39:58: Minnesota Vikings +3 at Philadelphia Eagles — The public will be on Philly, but will Minnesota really lose three in a row?

42:18: Dallas Cowboys +3 at Houston Texans —  The teams are even but the Texans have more upsides than the ‘Boys.

44:01: L.A. Rams -7 at  Seattle Seahawks — Everyone is on the Rams bandwagon, but if the Rams are going to get beat, it will be by someone like the Seahawks: well coached, passionate and in a tough environment. The Rams may escape with a victory, but take the points or walk away.

48:30: How much do linemakers adjust to video game-like totals?

53:03: Arizona Cardinals +4 at San Francisco 49ers — The 49ers have no Jimmy G and the Cards are a rollercoaster.

55:20: Washington Redskins -6.5 at New Orleans Saints — Upset alert? Monday Night Football will be a fun game if Washington can keep the ball moving.

55:48: N.Y. Giants +6.5 at Carolina Panthers — The Giants are bad and Walker is Eli Manning’s biggest detractor. Pros are on Big Blue at 7.

58:09: Tennessee Titans -4.5 at Buffalo Bills — The Titans may not score… but the Bills are not going to put up numbers against their D.

Have a profitable Week 5, folks. Follow Perrault on Twitter @sportstalkmatt and Walker @robertusfsports.

Thanks for listening and see you back next week, tell a friend, sign up for our newsletter and also check out our Cover City Podcast, featuring sports bettor Eric Rosenthal.

 

Hear more ‘Pro Football Handle’ Week 5: Seahawks-Rams, Jaguars-Chiefs, DraftKings Moves and Much More  on SportsHandle.

Breaking Down DraftKings’ Hire of Las Vegas Veteran Johnny Avello

The post Breaking Down DraftKings’ Hire of Las Vegas Veteran Johnny Avello appeared first on SportsHandle.

Wynn Resorts’ executive John Avello is joining DraftKings, the leading national Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) operation as it continues its foray into Nevada-style, single-team bookmaking, telling Sports Handle that the popular Las Vegas Strip bookmaker has joined their expanding operation.

Avello, who will remain in Las Vegas, the company said, is expected to be joined at DraftKings by Ed Malinowski, sports and racebook executive at Golden Entertainment. Malinoswki has resigned from that post.

Although it’s believed that Malinowski, with more than a decade in an executive role in the Southern Nevada sportsbook industry, will join Avello at DraftKings in a leadership role, he was unavailable to confirm his new post. A DraftKings spokesperson was unable to immediately confirm or deny the hiring of Malinowski.

 

Read more Breaking Down DraftKings’ Hire of Las Vegas Veteran Johnny Avello on SportsHandle.

New Jersey Sports Betting Generates $9.2M Revenue on $95.6 Handle In August

The post New Jersey Sports Betting Generates $9.2M Revenue on $95.6 Handle In August appeared first on SportsHandle.

The New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement on Wednesday released its monthly revenue figures, reporting a total handle of $95.6 million and gross revenue of $9.18 million for the sportsbooks across the seven licensed NJ sportsbooks that reported on the month’s operations.  

That’s a hold or win percentage of 9.6. The August report includes for the first time dollars connected to online sports betting, which produced a total of $2.97 million on a $21.7 million handle, or an online hold (win percentage) of roughly 15 percent. The vast majority of both figures are attributable to the DraftKings Sportsbook — meaning DraftKings alone accounted for almost exactly one-third of the monthly revenue.

 

Read more of New Jersey Sports Betting Generates $9.2M Revenue on $95.6 Handle In August on SportsHandle.

Live Betting on The NFL: Insights From Kambi’s Head of In-Play Betting

The post Live Betting on The NFL And Football — Insights From Kambi’s Head of In-Play Betting appeared first on SportsHandle.

Previously in an interview with veteran bettor Wes Reynolds, we examined live betting (aka in-game or in-play wagering) from the player’s perspective. In this article, we pull back the curtain on live betting from the operator side — in a conversation with Simon Noy, the head of live betting for Kambi Group, which has partnered with DraftKings as the latter’s sports betting technology/product supplier. 

In this exchange with Noy conducted over e-mail, we focus on NFL betting and football betting. In Europe, where Kambi is based, the popularity of in-game wagering is already enormous and will only continue to grow in the U.S.  What can bettors expect not only at the DraftKings Sportsbook — which launched for New Jersey sports bettors on August 6 — but at most sportsbooks as in-game offerings continue to expand?

Put simply, the availability of betting options will only be limited by imagination, bettor appetite, and the ability of oddsmakers/suppliers to hang sensible numbers.  (Note: This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.)

Live Betting on NFL and Football In General — Lines, Props, Keeping Blowouts Interesting and What You Can Expect

live betting tips strategy insights


Sports Handle (SH): For football, what types of events or outcomes draw the greatest number of wagers, in terms of total tickets and handle?

Simon Noy (SN): Very much as you’d expect: spreads, money lines, and totals – both in terms of tickets and handle. After that it’s about player props. For some time, the emerging trend has been to follow players, not teams, and we see the effect of this in betting behavior too.

With this in mind our expert trading team is always trying to devise and price up the most interesting markets per player – a quarterback to make at least three touchdown passes, or total passing yards over 300, or even offering in-game options like next touchdown scorer or our total points per player markets in the NBA.

SH: Are the majority of in-play wagers coming in on an adjusted moneyline or spread for the game’s outcome? Or 1Q, 3Q scoring? Team totals? Player props?

SN: Player props are popular among bettors and we only see them becoming even more so. The other important trend over the years from an in-game perspective is wagers on markets with shorter time frames, such as quarter, inning, etc. This is a really exciting way to bet, plus with so many games being played simultaneously, some users dip in and out of games and prefer to wager on the intervals they are watching in-game.

Taking this further, our offer of ‘instant markets’ is also proving very popular, with their super quick pay outs and enabling the player to bet throughout the game even if the game is one-sided. For instance, the outcome of next drive in NFL, will a golfer hit the green, or will the next batter get a base hit in MLB — players can bet on these markets until the final play or pitch even when the game is essentially won.

SH: Your team obviously doesn’t have much time to compute lines and then get the board down in time. Are the lines coming purely from an algorithm or from humans or some combination? What happens when an offense goes into hurry-up mode?

SN: Absolutely, we have a high degree of modeling and automation but we have also invested consistently over the years in building up a highly-skilled group of traders – we’re talking a trading team close to 300 sports fans here – so we definitely believe best results are achieved only with a combination of the two.

There will always be something yet to be modeled or automated, and that’s where the human touch can make a difference. In your example of the hurry-up mode, the human trader who will have in-depth knowledge of the players and teams involved will have an informed opinion on what plays will likely unfold next, enabling them to adjust their inputs and thus odds accordingly, thereby keeping markets open to bet. A sportsbook without this expertise will likely suspend their markets – that’s not the kind of UX which will keep players happy.

live betting nfl lines

SH: Has an influx of available data given bettors more advantage in recent years? Have the books benefited in the same way to nullify any edge?

SN: The increased availability of data has been great for the both the industry and for the players, particularly from a product perspective. We are able to compute more accurate and timely probabilities enabling us to expand our offering to include more relevant and interesting bets. I wouldn’t say the data has given bettors more of an advantage, but it’s certainly closed the knowledge gap between bookmaker and player – bettors are more informed than they’ve ever been.   

[Also See: The Marriage of Sports Betting, Analytics And Novice Bettors]

SH: Do you notice that some players are targeting or exploiting certain events in NFL games? Do some players simply hammer in-game wagers throughout the course of a game?

SN: I wouldn’t say anyone exploits a market – the line or price would move quite quickly if we felt someone had an edge on us. What we do have are players who enjoy particular markets because they find them entertaining, which was reflected in the handle we saw for ‘Outcome of Drive’ props in the Super Bowl.

Similarly, in tennis, players enjoy betting on each point as the match progresses, wagering smaller amounts. In that example it’s similar to someone placing a few dollars on the spin of a roulette wheel each time – it delivers a quick thrill with the next opportunity just seconds away, but also they have an angle based on their opinion of the players in that moment.

SH: Amongst NFL bettors, have you observed much appetite for betting on the outcome of every single play?

SN: For the Super Bowl we rolled out a new market, ‘Outcome of Drive’ where the users were able to wager on what would be the outcome of each drive as it unfolded and there was plenty of appetite for this, so we will be offering it on more events in the new football season. We are always pushing to innovate and add something new, and like a lot of our product this offer was totally unique when compared to other B2B providers.

Overall, the majority of wagers are on the main offers – so another element we focus on is to ensure that these core markets are available and remain attractive for as long as possible during a game. When I say attractive, I mean we ensure the lines and prices offered reflect the current situation of the match. For instance, if the total points line of a basketball match is 200 but we have 180 on the board after the third quarter, simply offering a short price on 200 is no fun. We update the lines offered throughout the game to ensure bettors can still get an even wager on each side. This might sound simple, but if you look around the market you won’t see many updating their lines in-play.  

SH: What’s the typical hold for a sportsbook on in-game wagers?

SN: The hold is typically smaller on in-game than pre-game because the naturally quicker nature of in-game lends itself to less parlays and more singles, while in-game markets can be much harder to price, with traders and algorithms reacting in seconds to the conditions of play. We can’t go into too much detail on our operator’s results as these are not public figures – but our years of experience offering markets on US sports and leagues means we are confident in our pricing even when offering the niche markets and situations we’ve been explaining here.

SH: Do you think in-play betting eventually surpasses pre-game straight wagers or props by overall volume?

SN: Certainly. It has already happened in most regulated markets and there’s no reason the US won’t follow suit very soon. In-game can offer an exciting product that pays out 24/7 and we are sure this will appeal to the US player once they get used to the wider offering and wonderful sports on offer.

For this to happen, quality of the product will be key: not just in terms of the number of relevant and exciting markets, but how those markets are presented and are they always priced up and available to bet on throughout the game. This is something we’ve been working hard on at Kambi – offering maximum availability even at the most crucial and exciting moments in the game.    

SH: What’s some advice for novice bettors when looking at betting menu?

SN: Take your time, start with small stakes, ensure you understand the rules of the markets you bet on.

The post Live Betting on The NFL And Football — Insights From Kambi’s Head of In-Play Betting appeared first on SportsHandle.