WEBVTT - DraftKings CEO Jason Robins Talks User Growth

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. Let's dive in to

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<v Speaker 1>one that is showing stronger user growth down one point

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<v Speaker 1>six percent.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm talking about DraftKings.

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<v Speaker 1>We're looking at Jason Robbins, the CEO now, who managed

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<v Speaker 1>to deliver what was record second quarter performance.

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<v Speaker 2>Your revenue up thirty seven percent year.

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<v Speaker 1>On year, and you're talking about delivering revenue closer to

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<v Speaker 1>the high end of twenty twenty five for the full year.

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<v Speaker 1>So what's the investor digestion going on?

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<v Speaker 2>Do you think? Well?

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<v Speaker 3>I think right now, we have a ton of momentum

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<v Speaker 3>in the business. We also had some good luck on

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<v Speaker 3>the sport outcome side in Q two, so that was nice,

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<v Speaker 3>and we're geared up for what is the most important

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<v Speaker 3>time of year coming up with NFL and then obviously

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<v Speaker 3>college sports, NBA World Series, NHL just a big, big

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<v Speaker 3>time a year. It's when we make our most revenue

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<v Speaker 3>and acquire most customers and make our most adjusted ebitas.

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<v Speaker 3>So really excited for that. I think we have some

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<v Speaker 3>great plans in place, and you know, really expecting strong

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<v Speaker 3>growth in the back part of the year.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, your shares are up twenty percent year to date,

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<v Speaker 1>so it might be why we come off a little

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<v Speaker 1>bit from our highs overall, But what about the core

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<v Speaker 1>value drivers here? Like we're talking about, you know, the

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<v Speaker 1>sports book friendly outcomes.

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<v Speaker 2>You talk about how the calendar.

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<v Speaker 1>Is looking good for you, But where else do you

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<v Speaker 1>focus on investing because you'r CFO in particular, Alan talking

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<v Speaker 1>about some growth initiatives and everyone's wondering about these prediction

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<v Speaker 1>markets that might or might not come to bear.

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<v Speaker 3>Well, even if you adjust for the outcomes, we were

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<v Speaker 3>still up twenty five percent revenue wise year over year,

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<v Speaker 3>so really healthy growth. And I think we're seeing, you know,

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<v Speaker 3>just very strong demand in our underlying customer cohorts. And

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<v Speaker 3>I also think the advancements we've made on the product

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<v Speaker 3>side have been huge. We've really built out our parlay offering.

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<v Speaker 3>Now we have the best in class and leading offering

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<v Speaker 3>when it comes to in game betting. That's become the

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<v Speaker 3>real growth driver of the industry right now, by far

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<v Speaker 3>more growth happening and live betting than anywhere else. So

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<v Speaker 3>I think really we positioned ourselves well from a product

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<v Speaker 3>and customer experience perspective. Our marketing has been very effective.

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<v Speaker 3>I also think on the internal side, we've gained a

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<v Speaker 3>ton of efficiency through use of AI, which means we're

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<v Speaker 3>getting more done for the customer and also saving money.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, like, what how you managing to interject generative AI

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<v Speaker 1>across the board?

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<v Speaker 3>I mean, the simple thing that we've been able to

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<v Speaker 3>do is get everyone in the company to realize that

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<v Speaker 3>they can drive value and it doesn't have to be

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<v Speaker 3>the engineering team doing everything. So much of tooling right

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<v Speaker 3>now through AI can be used by non engineers and

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<v Speaker 3>everyone throughout the company knows that there's tons of manual

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<v Speaker 3>workflows that can be automated through AI, and we've been

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<v Speaker 3>on a tear doing that. We've also been working on

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<v Speaker 3>select projects that are customer facing too, things like optimizing

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<v Speaker 3>our trading engine because a human can't possibly take in

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<v Speaker 3>all of the data and all the things happening at

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<v Speaker 3>the same time when a live game is going on,

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<v Speaker 3>So having AI agents support that and help make lower

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<v Speaker 3>level decisions, I think is also a huge unlocked that

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<v Speaker 3>we're pursuing. So I think the best is yet to

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<v Speaker 3>come as far as AI, and we've got a ton

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<v Speaker 3>of organizational momentum around it.

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<v Speaker 1>And when you talk about the adoption by your own employees,

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<v Speaker 1>thinking about how they can drive efficiency is efficiency what's

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<v Speaker 1>necessary at the moment when you do have a few

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<v Speaker 1>well known headwinds coming up in terms of just costs,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean the tax implications that you're getting Illinois, or

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<v Speaker 1>what's happening over in New Jersey for example. I'm also

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<v Speaker 1>thinking about well, Missouri, you're like expanding, but that takes

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<v Speaker 1>a cost upfront.

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<v Speaker 3>Now, you're absolutely right. I think that being able to

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<v Speaker 3>self fund some of these things through efficiency gains with

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<v Speaker 3>AI has been a big driver of our focus. Also,

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<v Speaker 3>I think there's other parts of the cost structure that

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<v Speaker 3>we found that we have value that can be achieved too.

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<v Speaker 3>So really, you know, it's always a balance for us.

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<v Speaker 3>We're obviously very much in growth mode now we had

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<v Speaker 3>thirty seven percent year over year revenue growth, but we

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<v Speaker 3>also are constantly looking at how we can be more efficient,

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<v Speaker 3>and we view the two is very linked. Oftentimes, where

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<v Speaker 3>you do things that are more efficient, it freeze up

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<v Speaker 3>better time to be spent on, you know, better things

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<v Speaker 3>for the customer as well.

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<v Speaker 1>So I go back to the expansion potentially into prediction markets.

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, I know it's about federal regulation in many ways, Jason,

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<v Speaker 1>but what gets you there.

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<v Speaker 2>What gets you tipping your toe into it?

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<v Speaker 3>Oh, I don't know that we are going to We're

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<v Speaker 3>still evaluating our options. Obviously it's brand new, and you

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<v Speaker 3>know we're watching it unfold right before our eyes, and

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<v Speaker 3>we're learning a lot as we get educated on the space.

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<v Speaker 3>So right now that's been our focus and you know,

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<v Speaker 3>we'll see what happens from there.

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<v Speaker 1>You have but one cell rating morning Star. What would

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<v Speaker 1>you say to analyst over a morning style that convinces

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<v Speaker 1>them to say, look, at the moment, our price point

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<v Speaker 1>is where its should be.

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<v Speaker 2>Actually, I'm looking up the wrong one.

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<v Speaker 1>Let me go to my proper DraftKings analyst recommendations.

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<v Speaker 2>Sorry, live interaction with the terminal.

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<v Speaker 1>Right now, I have analyst recommendations a zero of cell ratings,

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<v Speaker 1>but you have five buys what holds? What gets your

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<v Speaker 1>five holds to a by rating?

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<v Speaker 3>Jason, I think just continuing to prove ourselves performing over

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<v Speaker 3>time is what gives people confidence in a company. And

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<v Speaker 3>we've been public five years now, so we have a

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<v Speaker 3>bit of a track record, but we're still a relatively

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<v Speaker 3>new public company and I've only been profitable for the

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<v Speaker 3>last year or so, so I think really showing that

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<v Speaker 3>we can now grow our bottom line while continuing to

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<v Speaker 3>post impressive top line numbers. That's our focus and I

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<v Speaker 3>think that'll get more people on board.

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<v Speaker 1>Thirty two buys fives holds zero cells. Jason Robins Draftking CEO,

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<v Speaker 1>we thank you very much.

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<v Speaker 2>Indeed,