DraftKings will increasingly focus on augmenting live betting options to its sportsbook, CEO Jason Robins said during his company’s earnings call Friday, as part of a larger push to increase structural sports betting hold.
After growing that rate each of the past four years, DraftKings believes wagers placed after games begin can help push that figure to a record high.
Robins said this makes live betting the company’s “No. 1 area of focus” in 2025.
New acquisitions boost live betting
DraftKings, the No. 2 U.S. operator by market share, has increased its profitability by expanding beyond standard moneyline, total, and point spread bets into more lucrative “micro bets.” This includes thousands of individual player props such as points scored or yards receiving, which can be further divided by time increments such as halves, periods, or quarters.
The success of No. 1 market share operator FanDuel as well as DraftKings in developing these bets – and allowing bettors to stack them into multi-leg parlays - has helped the duo capture more than a third of the total U.S. legal betting market each.
To further profitability, DraftKings is looking to expand its in-play betting options, which can charge larger vigs, which lead to higher margins than pre-game wagers. The company acquired Simplebet, one of the industry’s leading in-game tech providers, in 2024.
NEW: DraftKings has acquired Simplebet, one of the major microbetting platforms, the two sides announced today; the deal will integrate Simplebet's in-house proprietary tech into the $DKNG sportsbook; this will give DK new, exclusive abilities to offer props, live bets and SGPs
— Ryan Butler (@ButlerBets) August 28, 2024
In Friday’s earnings release, Robins said Simplebet and other tech provider acquisitions including Sports IQ Analytics and Luster Golf will accelerate the company’s product road map and bring live betting to “another level.”
Robins said most first-time customers are not likely to place their initial “no sweat” promotional bet on a live wager, so the key to live betting participation is attracting existing customers. With DraftKings set to decrease its promotional spending in 2025, returning customers will become even more important to the company’s bottom line.
He also noted that most bets placed in more mature European markets are already live wagers. In the UK, Robins estimated these live bets accounted for 70-to-80% of the books’ profits.
In Europe, and the UK in particular, live betting is boosted by the popularity of international football. Robins said the start-and-stop nature of the most popular American sports, especially NFL and college football, make it conducive for live betting.
The DraftKings co-founder said Friday that last Sunday’s Super Bowl garnered the most in-play bets since the company’s sportsbook launched in 2018.
“I think as time goes on, we're going to continue to figure out ways to better create products that appeal to customers,” Robins said during Friday’s earnings call. “I think also the natural evolution and maturity of the customer base, people are going to try new sports, they're going to try new bet types, and that'll lead to more live betting.”
Another record revenue quarter for DraftKings
Friday’s earnings call gave more details on another record-setting revenue quarter for DraftKings despite arguably the best quarter for bettors in at least 40 years.
DraftKings generated nearly $1.4 billion in gross revenue in the fourth quarter of 2024, part of a record-high $4.8 billion in revenue for the entire year. The company generated $1.2 billion and $3.7 billion in revenue in Q4 2023 and full year 2023, respectively.
This came during a 2024 NFL season that saw favorites win at a pace unseen for at least four decades, according to DraftKings. Bettors tend to back favorites over underdogs, especially when building parlays, and particularly for NFL games.
This led to a loss of $139 million in net income for DraftKings in Q4 2024 despite the record-setting handle.
$DKNG Earnings Snapshot -- mind the outcome luck headwind: pic.twitter.com/5SWkkylUvd
— Brad Freeman (@StockMarketNerd) February 13, 2025
That dip may be short lived. DraftKings reported on its earnings call that it was already seeing more favorable results in the first six weeks of 2025, including a single-day record $436 million in bets placed on Super Bowl LIX Sunday.
The company raised the low end and midpoint of its 2025 revenue range due partially because of live betting ventures including Simplebet. Company officials reaffirmed Friday they believe these live wagering investments will roughly break even financially in 2025 and will create long-term positive contributions beginning in 2026.
Overall, DraftKings expects 2025 gross revenues of between $6.3 billion to $6.6 billion, which would represent a year-over-year growth of 32 to 38%. After losing several billion dollars in the past six years, DraftKings said Friday it expects to turn sustainable profits in 2026 and beyond.
