DraftKings Goes Public, While Nevada Posts Record November

DraftKings announced this week that they will go public with gambling technology firm SBTech and special acquisition firm, Diamond Eagle Acquisition during the first half of next year.

The three companies will merge under the DraftKings, Inc. banner and reincorporate in Nevada. The public stock offering will be listed under the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York City.

“The combination of DraftKings’ leading and trusted brand, deep focus on customer experience and data science expertise and SBTech’s highly innovative and proven technology platform creates a vertically-integrated powerhouse,” said Jason Robins co-founder and CEO of DraftKings.

“I look forward to building significantly upon our goals of continuing our state-by-state rollout and creating the most entertaining and engaging customer experiences for sports fans globally.”

Source: businesswire.com

Robins will continue to have control of the remade DraftKings brand, although most of the SBTech executive staff will play roles in the restructured company.

DraftKings continues to be one of the big players in the ever-growing sports betting expansion in the United States with an online market share that regularly tops 30% in states where wagering via mobile app is legal.

The company runs online and mobile sportsbooks in Indiana, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. Physical sportsbooks are run by the daily fantasy company in Iowa, Mississippi, New Jersey and New York.

For SBTech, the merger with DraftKings allows the company a platform to increase their exposure to additional betting markets.

“The combination of DraftKings and SBTech brings together two tech-native companies with the customer at their cores,” said Gavin Isaacs, SBTech’s Chairman. “SBTech will maintain its core business and continue its B2B focus. We are excited about the opportunity to join a company with a similar innovation DNA and create a unique and differentiated player in global sports betting and online gaming.”

Source: businesswire.com

Reports of Nevada’s demise as king of betting in America have been greatly exaggerated after the state posted their best-ever month in total handle as sportsbook took in $614.1 million in total wagers during November.

The $614.1 million figure tops the former record of $596.8 million in handle taken by Nevada sportsbooks during the month of March Madness earlier this year. The month’s total also represented a 5.7% increase from November 2018. Total revenue for the books also rose 14.3% with $31 million in winnings.

For the month, bettors in Nevada poured over $384 million into wagers on college and professional football. Of that amount, the books held 5.85% in winnings for $22.5 million in revenue.

Coming in second for November was basketball as the sportsbooks took in $166.65 million in total bets. For this sport, the hold was a bit lower at 4.89%, for winnings of $8.15 million for the Nevada betting operators.

There was only one sport where the sportsbooks in Nevada lost money and that was baseball, as the Washington Nationals’ upset win in the World Series over the Houston Astros cost the casinos roughly $6.18 million.

Nevada should see another solid month in betting handle during December, but with the holidays, the casinos see lower traffic as visitors stay home to celebrate with loved ones.