DraftKings CEO Jason Robins Talks Earnings, Future of Gambling

DraftKings CEO Jason Robins discusses quarterly earnings, affect of March Madness, expected growth and future of onsite versus online gambling and sports betting. Robbins spoke with Bloomberg's Caroline Hyde and Ed Ludlow.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Drafting CEO Jason Robbins delighted, say joins us. There has
been some let's say, back of the Napkin math, and
people look at the revenue forecast being lowered by about
two hundred million dollars. Right, Bear with me, Jason, Is
that exactly how much DraftKings lost on March Madness? The
two hundred million dollar figure.

Speaker 1 (00:30):
No, we actually put out the numbers. We have a
bridge in our earnings materials. It was a little bit less,
but overall it's not too far off.

Speaker 3 (00:39):
Okay, talk to us a little bit about what's too
far off as well? What else is driving perhaps an
expected downgrade in full year guidance. Analysts seem to be
taking this well on the chim as our investors, but
the regulatory environment as well. How much you haven't in
you once for that?

Speaker 1 (00:55):
Well, what we we put this out there. We had
about one hundred and seventy million from sport outcomes, and
then thirty million came from Jack Pocket being caused to
not be operating anymore in Texas. But then the overall
fundamentals of the business were actually very strong. We saw
increased to structural hold rate, our promotional efficiency increase, so

(01:17):
some of those things offset as well. So really the
fundamentals of the business are about as healthy as can be.
And I think the real question is will all these
sport outcomes turn around in two quarters in a row now?
But obviously that happens, and that's part of the greatness
of the product is that customers can win, and they
can go on winning streaks like this, and it makes
it a lot of fun, obviously, And you know, we'll

(01:37):
see it was the first time and I think second
time ever there were all four number one seeds in
the final four. Only the first time ever that that
happened with also all twos in one three seed in
the Elite eight, So you never know. Maybe there will
be another year like that, but probably not. It was
more likely an anomaly. And you know NBA playoffs already
have had a bunch of upsets, so it tends to

(01:58):
kind of swing around the other way over time.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
Ah, too much consistency. But what also is consistent, Jason,
is what a massive jump in your monthly active use is.
When you talk about the jackpot in particular, and I'm
interested in how jackpocket is transferring to other sports casino
games and the likes or are people sticking to that
lottery application.

Speaker 1 (02:20):
Well, Jackpocket is still very early in its growth. It's
still quite nascent, so we believe there's a ton of
upside for that business and we're excited about it. We
haven't fully integrated it into the DraftKings app yet, we
haven't put it on our platform yet, which should dramatically
increase both the conversion metrics and also the cross sellability
and marketing ability. And the cross sells already well above

(02:42):
our expectations, so we think there's even more upside there,
so we're pretty excited about it. We think there's a
lot of growth potential, but it's still small, so the
overall impact on the business isn't great yet, but hopefully
that changes as jack Pocket continues to grow.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
Jason, in your industry, there are big almost legacy names
Las Vegas Sands, for example, that are pulling out of
bids for land based casinos, and I wonder how much
you can assess their nervousness that online gambling just cannibalizes
demand for land base and how that impacts you.

Speaker 1 (03:18):
Well, it's certainly a perception that we have to fight
because it's out there. I do think that the facts
are very mixed on that. While there's certainly some examples
you can point to where there's been you know, diminishing
markets where they've had online gaming, it's also, you know,
often where there have been declines going into that, and
then you see the complete opposite story in states like
New Jersey where they grew and really reversed a declining

(03:40):
trend for years after legalizing online gaming.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
And it's also a.

Speaker 1 (03:44):
Different property to property. I do understand though, why if
you're a company that has no I gaming play right now,
doesn't have an app, doesn't have a way to make
money off of it, that this wouldn't be seen as
any upside for you. And so naturally, you know, if
there's no upside there, there can only be downside. And
I do understand that. But I think the amount of
cannibalization and the downside has been greatly exaggerated, and we

(04:07):
need to do a good job, or a better job,
I should say, educating on that, because the numbers don't
necessarily support that story.

Speaker 3 (04:14):
Jason Robbins, Draftking CEO, thanks so much for joining us today.
I appreciate it.