WEBVTT - DraftKings CEO Jason Robins Talks Sports Gambling

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

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<v Speaker 2>All right, let's stay on sports here.

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<v Speaker 3>The spread of legal gambling has changed how millions of

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<v Speaker 3>Americans root for their favorite teams, and the US sports

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<v Speaker 3>gambling industry has seen more than two hundred and twenty

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<v Speaker 3>billion dollars wagered in the five years since the Supreme

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<v Speaker 3>Court essentially legalized what was previously in underground market. Joining

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<v Speaker 3>US Now, I'm pleased to say we have Draftking CEO

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<v Speaker 3>Jason Robbins, and I actually do want to ask you

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<v Speaker 3>about Taylor Swift. But let me start with, of course,

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<v Speaker 3>the NFL regular season it's now underway. What visibility do

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<v Speaker 3>you have on whether the betting handle on pro football

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<v Speaker 3>will be more robust than what we saw last season?

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<v Speaker 4>Well, if Thursday night's any indicator, we're off to a

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<v Speaker 4>fantastic start. We had big year over year growth and

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<v Speaker 4>a ton of interest in the new player marks, especially

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<v Speaker 4>the touchdown markets that we were putting out there. We

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<v Speaker 4>had over six hundred and forty one pre match market

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<v Speaker 4>same thing, and tonight we traded over thirteen hundred live

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<v Speaker 4>markets last night. So just more content, more fun stuff

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<v Speaker 4>to bet on, and a lot of year over year growth.

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<v Speaker 2>How does it.

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<v Speaker 1>Compare with what you're seeing from prior years, if there

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<v Speaker 1>was any indicator, how do you kind of project out?

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<v Speaker 1>Especially now we were kind of talking about it during

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<v Speaker 1>the commercial break. Clearly the NFL is hitting new markets.

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<v Speaker 1>The Packers are playing in South Pallo tonight. What does

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<v Speaker 1>that mean for you?

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<v Speaker 4>Well, I think it's fantastic that the NFL is expanding globally.

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<v Speaker 2>I think it'll be great for interest in the sport.

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<v Speaker 4>Obviously we're very focused on the US, but I do

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<v Speaker 4>think the more global interest in the sport is just

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<v Speaker 4>something we're rising.

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<v Speaker 2>Tide lifts, all ships.

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<v Speaker 4>And really, you know, I think it's just part of

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<v Speaker 4>the overall trend we're seeing where more and more people

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<v Speaker 4>around the world are getting interested in things Internationally. You

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<v Speaker 4>see the same thing in the US where a lot

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<v Speaker 4>of the betting is occurring on sports being played overseas.

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<v Speaker 2>So I just think it's.

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<v Speaker 4>More and more of the world being globalized and people

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<v Speaker 4>being you know, having more access to things. In NFL's

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<v Speaker 4>great contents, you put it in front of people and

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<v Speaker 4>they're going to enjoy it.

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<v Speaker 5>A couple of cheeseheads here on set really is a Green.

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<v Speaker 2>Bay Packers fan.

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<v Speaker 5>I love when I love Jason, when the US legalizes

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<v Speaker 5>things that people are doing anyway, you know, in the dark.

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<v Speaker 5>But I wonder how concerned you are about a rise

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<v Speaker 5>in gambling problems. People picking are taking money out of

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<v Speaker 5>retirement accounts, charging up credit cards. I mean, we hear

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<v Speaker 5>more and more of these stories. It's obviously an addiction

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<v Speaker 5>for many many people. How does DraftKings deal.

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<v Speaker 2>With that problem?

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<v Speaker 4>Well, I think it's a very important topic you bring

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<v Speaker 4>up in one of the major reasons why it does

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<v Speaker 4>make sense to have a legal, regulated market. We have

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<v Speaker 4>tens of millions of dollars that we're investing in responsible

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<v Speaker 4>gaming every year. We have almost one hundred employees working

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<v Speaker 4>on it on their own. You know, one hundred percent

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<v Speaker 4>of their job is reponsible gaming, and so, you know,

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<v Speaker 4>it's something that we're really putting major investment into, and

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<v Speaker 4>we have a number of different ways that.

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<v Speaker 2>We approach it.

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<v Speaker 4>We have tools that we give to players where they

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<v Speaker 4>can set limits for themselves. We have models that we

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<v Speaker 4>build that help us understand and flag risky behavior, and

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<v Speaker 4>we have a player protection team that is trained to

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<v Speaker 4>have targeted conversations with people. When those models, you know,

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<v Speaker 4>set off certain flags, So I think it's a real

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<v Speaker 4>important part of having a legal regulated market and an

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<v Speaker 4>unregulated market, you're going to have no protections of those

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<v Speaker 4>sorts for consumers, and people will just sort of be

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<v Speaker 4>left to their own devices. And I think that you know,

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<v Speaker 4>in the legal regulated market, not only those requirements, but

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<v Speaker 4>they actually become competitive advantages because people want to play

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<v Speaker 4>in a place that they perceive as doing the right

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<v Speaker 4>thing by customers and doing it in the right way.

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<v Speaker 3>I did see some study or report or article about

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<v Speaker 3>people actually stopping day trading or cutting back on day

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<v Speaker 3>trading because now they're trading more on sports, so there's

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<v Speaker 3>some replacement behavior going on as well. But I actually

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<v Speaker 3>want to ask you about taxes because of course August

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<v Speaker 3>was a very volatile month for draftking shares. You had

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<v Speaker 3>to announced a planned tax surcharge in those higher tax

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<v Speaker 3>states that would help offset the cost of revenue based

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<v Speaker 3>gaming taxes. You ultimately withdrew that plan, but other plans

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<v Speaker 3>along those lines under consideration to help mitigate the effect

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<v Speaker 3>of those high tax those high state gaming taxes.

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<v Speaker 4>Well, at the moment, we're really focused on NFL season

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<v Speaker 4>and listening to what our customers want and how we

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<v Speaker 4>can put out the best product and do the best

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<v Speaker 4>job we can to make our customers feel like DraftKings

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<v Speaker 4>is the place that they want to play. You know,

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<v Speaker 4>that's something at some point down the line we may revisit,

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<v Speaker 4>but right now we kind of heard the customer feedback.

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<v Speaker 4>It was something that you know, didn't get received in

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<v Speaker 4>a way that we felt made sense for us to pursue.

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<v Speaker 2>And that's what we're really all about.

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<v Speaker 4>We I think, as a company, really emphasized culturally listening

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<v Speaker 4>to the customer and following the customer, and so right

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<v Speaker 4>now with the start of NFL season, we're one thousand

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<v Speaker 4>percent focused on serving our customers and understanding how they're

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<v Speaker 4>enjoying and what we can do better to give them

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<v Speaker 4>the best experience possible.

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<v Speaker 1>I want to talk about strategy here as well, Jason,

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<v Speaker 1>because you have agreed to buy simple Bet, which looks

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<v Speaker 1>to place wagers during a live sporting event. What does

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<v Speaker 1>this mean for DraftKings. How significant is this for you?

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<v Speaker 4>Well, I'm very excited about simple Bet one. Most importantly,

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<v Speaker 4>we're getting a great team. I really have been so

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<v Speaker 4>impressed by all the folks there, and the talent is

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<v Speaker 4>always what makes these types of deals, But we're also

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<v Speaker 4>getting great technology. They've built an incredible micro betting product

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<v Speaker 4>and have a ton of other technology that can be

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<v Speaker 4>useful for building out our live betting offering. So I

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<v Speaker 4>think between the team and the tech stact they have,

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<v Speaker 4>this is really going to put us in a position

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<v Speaker 4>to accelerate our efforts and live betting and hopefully make

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<v Speaker 4>it something where we're clearly ahead of the competitive field.

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<v Speaker 5>You know, the interest, yeah, of women for football, for example,

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<v Speaker 5>obviously a sword because maybe in part Taylor Swift is

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<v Speaker 5>Dave Travis kelcey and knows the games all the time.

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<v Speaker 3>I've heard that, and she of course was at the

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<v Speaker 3>game last night, Jason. She was also in what the

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<v Speaker 3>NFL had a little preview of the season ahead. She

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<v Speaker 3>appeared in that multiple times. So more women are watching

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<v Speaker 3>the NFL, or more women betting with DraftKings as a result.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, it's hard to say if it's a result.

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<v Speaker 4>We are certainly seeing a rise in women betting on DraftKings,

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<v Speaker 4>and you know, of course that's been a trend for

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<v Speaker 4>a few years for us, So you know, I think

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<v Speaker 4>there's some tailwind in just general momentum in that direction.

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<v Speaker 4>I can't you know, really attribute it to Taylor, But

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<v Speaker 4>I'm sure it can't hurt certainly. I know a lot

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<v Speaker 4>of people who love her, including me, you know, enjoy

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<v Speaker 4>talking about it, and it gives me something to talk

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<v Speaker 4>about it with my wife. Maybe I can get her

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<v Speaker 4>to start making a few bets too. Haven't got my

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<v Speaker 4>wife to make any bets yet, but I'm working on it.

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<v Speaker 2>Well.

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<v Speaker 1>To that end, about more women betting, you know, a

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<v Speaker 1>conversation I've been having over the last twenty four hours

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<v Speaker 1>is what media rights would mean for women's sports to

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<v Speaker 1>take off more. I'm curious about that more largely for

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<v Speaker 1>you too, Jason. When you see Amazon, for example, entering

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<v Speaker 1>the sphere in this massive, massive way with the NBA

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<v Speaker 1>with podcast rights, you know, how does that change the

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<v Speaker 1>way that you interact with different platforms, type of audiences

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<v Speaker 1>that you grab as the media landscape changes around sports.

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<v Speaker 4>Well, first of all, I think the more ways that

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<v Speaker 4>you know, and the more companies, media companies and tech

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<v Speaker 4>companies that are interested in getting eyeballs on sports, that's

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<v Speaker 4>great for the ecosystem. It starts with having the content

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<v Speaker 4>out there so people can consume it, and having partners

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<v Speaker 4>that are really motivated to create the best you know, experience,

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<v Speaker 4>the best broadcast, the best stream around that content.

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<v Speaker 2>So really excited to see that.

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<v Speaker 4>And you know, for US, I think women's sports is

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<v Speaker 4>a huge growth opportunity. W NBA has been a great

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<v Speaker 4>story for US, Women's college basketball has been growing like crazy.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, I think women's sports.

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<v Speaker 4>Is going to be one of the great growth stories

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<v Speaker 4>of the online sports betting industry for the next several

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<v Speaker 4>years and beyond. And it's not just women betting though,

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<v Speaker 4>it's really everybody. You know, men are betting on women's

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<v Speaker 4>sports just as much is they're betting on Excuse me,

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<v Speaker 4>the men betting on women's sports are actually greater than

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<v Speaker 4>the women betting on women's sports, just because there's more

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<v Speaker 4>male better. So I think what's awesome is to see

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<v Speaker 4>it's not just women coming out of the platform betting

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<v Speaker 4>on women's sports.

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<v Speaker 2>It's really everybody.

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<v Speaker 1>Jason, we got to leave it there. We thank you

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<v Speaker 1>for your time, of course, at the start of a

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<v Speaker 1>hot NFL season. That is Jason Robbin's CEO of Draft Gings.

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<v Speaker 2>This is Bloomberg