1 00:00:01,080 --> 00:00:05,360 Speaker 1: This is the Business of Sports from Bloomberg Radio. Hello, 2 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:08,799 Speaker 1: I'm Jason Kelly and I'm Michael and Mike Lynch. We're 3 00:00:08,840 --> 00:00:11,959 Speaker 1: here Monday's, Wednesdays and Thursdays to explore the big money 4 00:00:11,960 --> 00:00:13,640 Speaker 1: issues in the world of sports. Talk to some of 5 00:00:13,640 --> 00:00:17,400 Speaker 1: the biggest players in the industry. Big money, that's what 6 00:00:17,440 --> 00:00:20,480 Speaker 1: we are talking about today, and sports and a big day. 7 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:22,560 Speaker 1: I'm just gonna say it right up top for Michael 8 00:00:22,560 --> 00:00:25,920 Speaker 1: bar because today we are speaking with the CEO of Fandel, 9 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:29,320 Speaker 1: Matt King. Matt. Really glad to have you with us. 10 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: Great to be here, guys, thanks for having me. All right, 11 00:00:31,600 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: I'm gonna break tradition here. Usually I asked the first question. 12 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:38,000 Speaker 1: I am turning this over, this first question over to 13 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:41,680 Speaker 1: Michael Barr because I know he has more questions than 14 00:00:41,720 --> 00:00:44,879 Speaker 1: we have time for. Bar take it away. Don't worry, fellas, 15 00:00:45,080 --> 00:00:48,159 Speaker 1: I got this. Let me let me tell you how 16 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:50,680 Speaker 1: much I'm Jones and for this interview. Yes, right, I said, 17 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:53,720 Speaker 1: Jones in all the year. That's right. Usually I do 18 00:00:54,000 --> 00:00:56,400 Speaker 1: in any interview, I have the lights on in the 19 00:00:56,440 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: studio and I'm going through the notes. All the lights 20 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:02,240 Speaker 1: off in the studio, and the only thing missing now 21 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:05,399 Speaker 1: is a Budweiser, because I got a lot of questions 22 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: from a guy who is a gambler himself. So my 23 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:15,040 Speaker 1: first question is DraftKings. How is that now they're saying 24 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:20,640 Speaker 1: that an analyst, your competitor, they can survive with Major 25 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 1: League Baseball, you know, their quotation marks there because of 26 00:01:25,360 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: the bubble sports of the NBA and the NHL coming up. 27 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:33,200 Speaker 1: And I'm wondering, what about you guys at FanDuel. Do 28 00:01:33,240 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 1: you guys see it the same way? Sure, I mean, 29 00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:39,800 Speaker 1: I think from our perspective, we are in a position where, 30 00:01:40,160 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: you know, we think we can kind of not only 31 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 1: survive but also thrive. Obviously, that kind of in the 32 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: context of a lot of businesses that are having real challenges, 33 00:01:48,680 --> 00:01:51,800 Speaker 1: not just in sports and outside of sports. Um, but 34 00:01:51,880 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 1: if you look at our business, what makes us unique 35 00:01:54,560 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: is we're the most diverse online gaming business out there. 36 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:02,120 Speaker 1: In addition to fantasy sports and sports betting, we have 37 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:05,360 Speaker 1: online casino. We also actually have the biggest online horse 38 00:02:05,440 --> 00:02:08,280 Speaker 1: racing business in the country, and we've been fortunate that 39 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:11,600 Speaker 1: the casino and the horse racing business have really been 40 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:16,880 Speaker 1: growing dramatically year every year. We also operate a poker 41 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:21,280 Speaker 1: business in the US that's doing very nicely. And you 42 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: know that said sar Do a couple of days ago. Yeah, 43 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,160 Speaker 1: that we do. So you know, our tagline is more 44 00:02:30,200 --> 00:02:32,079 Speaker 1: ways to win, and so when we look at it, 45 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 1: you know, that's really what we're trying to deliver. So 46 00:02:34,080 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: we got kind of businesses that are uninterrupted by COVID, 47 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 1: like poker and casino, and then you have businesses like 48 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:44,079 Speaker 1: sports betting and fantasy where we've just been trying to 49 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,920 Speaker 1: drive as much creativity in there to keep people engaged. Um, 50 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:50,079 Speaker 1: even if revenues down, we want to make sure we're 51 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: still delivering a great experience and great excitement to our customers. 52 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:57,120 Speaker 1: And so Matt, tell us what it's been like, you know, 53 00:02:57,280 --> 00:03:01,000 Speaker 1: since the shutdown running the BIS. This maybe some of 54 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:04,080 Speaker 1: the things that we might not expect or might be 55 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:07,560 Speaker 1: surprised to hear in terms of even just the operations 56 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:10,959 Speaker 1: of FANDEL. Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, obviously 57 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,480 Speaker 1: every day has been a new challenge, and particularly in 58 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 1: the early days, the uncertainty created a lot of tricky 59 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:20,080 Speaker 1: issues just in terms of how you manage the business. 60 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 1: We've always been a remote business where we have a 61 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: lot of people in the office, but it was always 62 00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:27,560 Speaker 1: distributed UM, so we kind of made the transition to 63 00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:31,079 Speaker 1: working from home pretty seamlessly. We focused obviously on health 64 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:33,720 Speaker 1: and safety first, making sure people were kind of at 65 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:37,320 Speaker 1: home having any resources they needed. But then what really 66 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:40,920 Speaker 1: has been impressive to watch is the creativity of the 67 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:43,400 Speaker 1: team and also the way the team pulled together to 68 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 1: deliver a great customer proposition. If you take our fantasy 69 00:03:47,080 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: sports business, very early on, we gave a quick direction 70 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: to that team that said, look, fantasy is reliant largely 71 00:03:56,240 --> 00:03:59,640 Speaker 1: on the Big four sports historically. Without the Big four 72 00:04:00,080 --> 00:04:02,920 Speaker 1: or it's going to be hard to generate and recover 73 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 1: a lot of the revenue. But what we can do 74 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,640 Speaker 1: is focused on engaging our users, and so we did 75 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:14,280 Speaker 1: everything from the Democratic debate Fantasy to we issue we're 76 00:04:14,280 --> 00:04:17,840 Speaker 1: doing free to play games on mad and simulations and 77 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 1: so just giving people something new every day to do 78 00:04:21,600 --> 00:04:25,919 Speaker 1: in a way that retained more than fift our customers 79 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:28,440 Speaker 1: on the site day in and day out, just playing 80 00:04:28,440 --> 00:04:30,480 Speaker 1: free to play games, and that was really the objective 81 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:33,120 Speaker 1: that we tried to deliver against UM and then in 82 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:36,280 Speaker 1: other parts of the business, you know, we frankly introduced 83 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 1: a lot of cross selling activities. So we actually launched 84 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:42,280 Speaker 1: a FanDuel branded racing product and that's horse Racing, to 85 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:45,479 Speaker 1: introduce horse racing to a whole new generation of fans. 86 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 1: And the benefit of horse racing is it. You know, 87 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 1: while a lot of races were canceled, it kept going 88 00:04:50,480 --> 00:04:52,839 Speaker 1: even through the depths of the early days of COVID, 89 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:55,000 Speaker 1: and so we're able to bring a totally new product 90 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:58,080 Speaker 1: to market that met in need and delivered a lot 91 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 1: of a lot of fun to a lot of users. 92 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:03,080 Speaker 1: That type of creativity, it's really been the hallmark of 93 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:07,720 Speaker 1: the team since COVID happened. So baseball is back, matt 94 00:05:07,920 --> 00:05:12,280 Speaker 1: Um shortened season. Opening day was July fifth, as opposed 95 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:17,960 Speaker 1: to like March. What is the demand after this shutdown 96 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:21,800 Speaker 1: versus a year ago when the opening day came and 97 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 1: baseball is off the chart at the moment. We've done 98 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:27,520 Speaker 1: a lot of promotional activities and advertising to lean into 99 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:30,200 Speaker 1: it as well. So you definitely had the pent up demand, 100 00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:33,360 Speaker 1: and then we tried to kind of accelerate that more 101 00:05:33,400 --> 00:05:36,799 Speaker 1: just because we wanted to thank all of our fans 102 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 1: who frankly entertained us and got sports through in the 103 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:44,920 Speaker 1: sports ecosystem through the kind of the worst days of 104 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:48,159 Speaker 1: covid UM, and so we dropped eighty million dollars into 105 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:50,799 Speaker 1: people's accounts and said, kind of everybody's got ten bucks 106 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:54,080 Speaker 1: to play free when baseball comes back. And so between 107 00:05:54,279 --> 00:05:56,599 Speaker 1: kind of the pent up demand and what we've done 108 00:05:56,720 --> 00:06:00,240 Speaker 1: to really engage our players, we've seen off the charts. Man, 109 00:06:01,520 --> 00:06:06,359 Speaker 1: I'm just wondering if the betting. Let's let's put it 110 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:09,279 Speaker 1: this way, there are two types of betting on fan 111 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,960 Speaker 1: duel and others. There's the sports book part and then 112 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 1: there's the casino part. It would seem to me the 113 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 1: casino part would still be strong, because yes, there are 114 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:23,040 Speaker 1: a lack of sports out there, but the casino part 115 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:26,760 Speaker 1: would still be strong. Is that true. Yes, casino has 116 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:30,080 Speaker 1: been strong pre covid Casino continues to be strong, and 117 00:06:30,120 --> 00:06:34,080 Speaker 1: that's both people coming in direct to play, just because obviously, 118 00:06:34,160 --> 00:06:38,120 Speaker 1: while the number of casinos are open, they're under capacity 119 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:41,240 Speaker 1: limitations and other things. He's kind of the traditional casino 120 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:43,719 Speaker 1: gambler who's playing on our site. Then you also have 121 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:46,560 Speaker 1: people that are just looking for a quick hand of 122 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:50,360 Speaker 1: black jack in between your betting on sports. So casino 123 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:55,200 Speaker 1: is definitely a business that's growing very very nicely. So 124 00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:58,320 Speaker 1: when you think about the sports landscape in the in 125 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:01,400 Speaker 1: the Big four that you mentioned, Matt, I mean, walk 126 00:07:01,520 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 1: us through that a little bit in terms of demand first, 127 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:09,480 Speaker 1: but then also how the way that the games are 128 00:07:09,520 --> 00:07:12,040 Speaker 1: being played and where they're being played. I mean, we 129 00:07:12,080 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: spend so much time talking about that, the logistics of everything, 130 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:21,440 Speaker 1: but I wonder, ultimately how much does that affect your business. 131 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: It's a great question. So I think from in general, 132 00:07:25,640 --> 00:07:29,960 Speaker 1: the way the games are being played doesn't really affect 133 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:32,960 Speaker 1: our business. You know, if you look at sports betting, 134 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:35,200 Speaker 1: you know, we make this point the legislators all the 135 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:40,120 Speaker 1: time when they're debating kind of mobile versus not. The 136 00:07:40,200 --> 00:07:43,200 Speaker 1: market long term is going to be mobile sports setting. 137 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 1: It's not in the venue, and most times these are 138 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 1: people that are not at the game, and so most 139 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 1: of our users are already sitting home when they're watching 140 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:55,800 Speaker 1: the game, and they can play best the same way 141 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:58,880 Speaker 1: they can be a pre COVID. So the way the 142 00:07:58,920 --> 00:08:02,480 Speaker 1: games are getting played AID doesn't really affect us that much. 143 00:08:02,520 --> 00:08:04,440 Speaker 1: I mean there's some stuff on the margin, right the 144 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:08,440 Speaker 1: rules around the baseball has in terms of how rainouts 145 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 1: are gonna get treated, or how short games are gonna 146 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:13,080 Speaker 1: get treated. That affects kind of how some of the 147 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:15,440 Speaker 1: bets settled, but that's more on the margin. It doesn't 148 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:18,840 Speaker 1: affect the overall experience. I think the big question that 149 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:21,320 Speaker 1: we have, it's been a noble question at this point 150 00:08:21,320 --> 00:08:24,880 Speaker 1: because it's more of a football phenomenon, is the social 151 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,480 Speaker 1: experience around sports is changing. You know, you guys know 152 00:08:28,560 --> 00:08:30,640 Speaker 1: as well as I do. On an NFL Sunday, you're 153 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:33,640 Speaker 1: at a friend's house, you're gathered with family, you're at 154 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:36,360 Speaker 1: a bar, you're at the tailgate. You know, a lot 155 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:40,160 Speaker 1: of football in particular is defined by the social ritual, 156 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:43,360 Speaker 1: and that's going to change, obviously for this upcoming season. 157 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:46,920 Speaker 1: And how that change affects our business and the way 158 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:49,199 Speaker 1: people play and the way people bet exactly. They're probably 159 00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:53,400 Speaker 1: their desire to connect with their friends in a virtual 160 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:56,600 Speaker 1: way probably goes up pretty significantly, and so we're looking 161 00:08:56,640 --> 00:08:59,240 Speaker 1: to do more things to connect people in a virtual way. 162 00:08:59,559 --> 00:09:03,400 Speaker 1: Record I sing that from a social perspective, you know, 163 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:05,000 Speaker 1: it's going to be very different than it has been 164 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:10,520 Speaker 1: in years past. Matt with COVID nineteen just depleting so 165 00:09:10,600 --> 00:09:13,480 Speaker 1: many state treasuries. Do you think this will accelerate the 166 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:16,480 Speaker 1: legalized sports betting in some of the states that have 167 00:09:16,520 --> 00:09:20,000 Speaker 1: been holding back so far. I think it does. I 168 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:25,040 Speaker 1: mean you're seeing what people started to realize pre COVID 169 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:28,880 Speaker 1: your two year roughly two years into legalized sports betting, 170 00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:32,679 Speaker 1: and the reality is most legislators kind of solve this 171 00:09:32,920 --> 00:09:36,880 Speaker 1: as sports betting legislation and mobile sports betting legislation in 172 00:09:36,920 --> 00:09:40,319 Speaker 1: particular is kind of common sense legislation. It's one of 173 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:44,800 Speaker 1: the few things that can generate tax revenue, help protect consumers, 174 00:09:44,800 --> 00:09:48,320 Speaker 1: put an illegal market out of business, and you have 175 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:51,480 Speaker 1: something that you're constituents thank you for, which is rare 176 00:09:51,520 --> 00:09:54,280 Speaker 1: when you're raising new tax revenues. And so even pre 177 00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:56,560 Speaker 1: COVID you had a ton of momentum in sports betting. 178 00:09:57,200 --> 00:10:00,800 Speaker 1: Sports betting is certainly accelerating a lot of the conversations 179 00:10:00,840 --> 00:10:03,320 Speaker 1: and the process at the state level because you just 180 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:06,120 Speaker 1: have these big economic stimulus bills that are going through 181 00:10:06,240 --> 00:10:08,520 Speaker 1: where states are looking for every bit of revenue as 182 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:10,520 Speaker 1: they can. I would say the other thing a lot 183 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:13,240 Speaker 1: of states are now considering, and there's in some ways 184 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:18,120 Speaker 1: been even more acceleration, is online gaming. People recognize that 185 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:20,680 Speaker 1: the casino business is going to be challenged for a 186 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:24,200 Speaker 1: long time, both from a kind of physical public health 187 00:10:24,240 --> 00:10:28,000 Speaker 1: perspective as well as a revenue perspectives. And the states 188 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:31,880 Speaker 1: have relied on casino revenues and taxes for a big 189 00:10:31,920 --> 00:10:33,960 Speaker 1: chunk of their budgets and they need to find a 190 00:10:34,000 --> 00:10:37,560 Speaker 1: way to replace that too. And so you know, we're 191 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:39,360 Speaker 1: optimistic that you're going to see a lot of a 192 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:43,040 Speaker 1: lot more states actually legalized both online sports as well 193 00:10:43,080 --> 00:10:46,680 Speaker 1: as online gaming in order to maximize the opportunity that's here. 194 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:52,760 Speaker 1: It makes me wonder about the most important person when 195 00:10:52,760 --> 00:10:55,760 Speaker 1: it comes to fan Duel or or any other online 196 00:10:55,880 --> 00:10:59,160 Speaker 1: sports betting site. The person has got to set the line. 197 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:03,640 Speaker 1: And I wonder now, because of COVID and because we're 198 00:11:03,640 --> 00:11:08,920 Speaker 1: playing baseball in fanless stadiums, how much does that impact 199 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:14,240 Speaker 1: setting the line? You know, again, it impacts that less 200 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:15,920 Speaker 1: than you might think. You know, a lot of our 201 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:19,960 Speaker 1: lines are very analytically driven. You know, we offer more 202 00:11:20,040 --> 00:11:24,120 Speaker 1: markets than anybody else. On average, there's probably two to 203 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:26,640 Speaker 1: three x the number of things that you can bet 204 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:31,360 Speaker 1: on in a game on our site relative to everybody else. Also, 205 00:11:31,440 --> 00:11:34,560 Speaker 1: we keep a lot of our markets open throughout the game. 206 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:36,960 Speaker 1: So we have one of the biggest, if not the 207 00:11:37,040 --> 00:11:41,839 Speaker 1: biggest in play businesses out there, and um, a lot 208 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:44,800 Speaker 1: of that comes from just a very analytically kind of 209 00:11:44,880 --> 00:11:48,559 Speaker 1: big data driven set of models, and then the traders 210 00:11:48,559 --> 00:11:52,319 Speaker 1: are providing kind of an overlay to that. And because 211 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:55,160 Speaker 1: we're so data driven, again, as long as we're getting 212 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:58,560 Speaker 1: the data feed, we can trade the game and you 213 00:11:58,679 --> 00:12:01,600 Speaker 1: move forward with the business are kind of as relatively normal, 214 00:12:01,960 --> 00:12:03,440 Speaker 1: you know. One of the things that we are trying 215 00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:07,120 Speaker 1: to innovate around is actually improving some of those models, 216 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:10,800 Speaker 1: and the upcoming season actually give people even more opportunities 217 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:13,880 Speaker 1: to bet um as well as more in play opportunities 218 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:17,360 Speaker 1: because we seemed such a demand for in play that 219 00:12:17,520 --> 00:12:19,800 Speaker 1: we really want to lean into something that customers are 220 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:22,240 Speaker 1: coming to seeing for the first time because it never 221 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:26,679 Speaker 1: existed in Vegas and really love straight off the bat. Well, Matt, 222 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:29,520 Speaker 1: let's talk about this. I mean that a little bit 223 00:12:29,559 --> 00:12:31,800 Speaker 1: more in terms of people seeing it for the first time. 224 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:34,760 Speaker 1: I mean, how have you seen your customer change, your 225 00:12:34,800 --> 00:12:37,640 Speaker 1: audience changed through the course of this, because we know 226 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:41,160 Speaker 1: I mean I know personally, you know, personally, everybody in 227 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:44,320 Speaker 1: this interview, does all of our daily habits and routines 228 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:47,240 Speaker 1: have changed a little bit. I do wonder how you 229 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:50,680 Speaker 1: are getting to people, finding people and what you're discovering 230 00:12:51,040 --> 00:12:55,120 Speaker 1: about maybe some new markets and new customers. Yeah, no, 231 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:57,360 Speaker 1: it's it's a great question. I think in terms of 232 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:00,240 Speaker 1: reaching people, one of the things that we've on a 233 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:04,240 Speaker 1: lot of is actually invested in our own content. We 234 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:09,199 Speaker 1: saw an opportunity two years ago to deliver high quality, 235 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:13,360 Speaker 1: kind of sports betting oriented content into the marketplace, and 236 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:18,440 Speaker 1: we've found that that ability has really differentiated as amongst 237 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,320 Speaker 1: customers and it's been something that people were seeking out. 238 00:13:21,920 --> 00:13:23,760 Speaker 1: One of the things that we had to adapt to 239 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:26,720 Speaker 1: your question about kind of reaching customers was when you 240 00:13:26,760 --> 00:13:28,839 Speaker 1: don't have sports to talk about, you know, what do 241 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:30,800 Speaker 1: you write about? And what should your content be about? 242 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:35,000 Speaker 1: In that window, we've converted a lot to just, frankly, 243 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:39,439 Speaker 1: things that entertained and so we were out doing your 244 00:13:39,520 --> 00:13:42,080 Speaker 1: betting content on the long tail of sports or other 245 00:13:42,160 --> 00:13:45,120 Speaker 1: things that just kept people engaged. And so that's been 246 00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:47,640 Speaker 1: one thing that we've done. It's different is that, you know, 247 00:13:47,640 --> 00:13:50,319 Speaker 1: continuing to invest in content that adapting the content for 248 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:52,720 Speaker 1: what's going on. I think in terms of what people 249 00:13:52,720 --> 00:13:55,040 Speaker 1: are doing Yeah, I think we've seen a couple of 250 00:13:55,040 --> 00:13:57,720 Speaker 1: things happen in our player base. One is more people 251 00:13:57,760 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 1: tried on lane casino, so we talked a little bit 252 00:13:59,679 --> 00:14:01,679 Speaker 1: about that, uh, and then I think the second thing 253 00:14:01,679 --> 00:14:05,960 Speaker 1: people have done is obviously experimented more with, you know, 254 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:09,760 Speaker 1: sports outside the Big Four, whether that's European soccer, whether 255 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:13,000 Speaker 1: that's the UFC, whether that's golf. One of the things 256 00:14:13,040 --> 00:14:15,840 Speaker 1: that we found was when you have kind of no 257 00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:19,520 Speaker 1: sports on, if there's one event for the weekend, right, 258 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 1: one UFC fight, one golf match, kind of everybody focuses 259 00:14:23,960 --> 00:14:26,040 Speaker 1: on that. And so one of the things that we've 260 00:14:26,120 --> 00:14:29,520 Speaker 1: kind of adapted to is leaning into those tent pole 261 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:32,440 Speaker 1: events on a weekend by weekend basis just to make 262 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:34,640 Speaker 1: sure we're talking about the things that people are watching, 263 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:38,960 Speaker 1: which is very different than most of the normal sporting calendar, 264 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:41,120 Speaker 1: where you might have two or three big sports going 265 00:14:41,120 --> 00:14:43,920 Speaker 1: on at one time and then a lot of little sports, 266 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:46,320 Speaker 1: so you can't really be focused on just one event. 267 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:49,520 Speaker 1: And during this time period, we've been much more focused 268 00:14:49,600 --> 00:14:51,960 Speaker 1: on what's the big event this weekend, how do we 269 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:53,680 Speaker 1: lean into it, how do we make it even more 270 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:56,360 Speaker 1: entertaining for fans, and out of that, we've done a 271 00:14:56,400 --> 00:14:58,360 Speaker 1: lot of kind of creative things in the last couple 272 00:14:58,360 --> 00:15:01,720 Speaker 1: of months. So, um, let's just say at the beginning 273 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:04,480 Speaker 1: of the baseball season, there's an over under for wins 274 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:07,400 Speaker 1: and I get the Miami Marlins and I don't know, 275 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:10,360 Speaker 1: I picked over twenty seven, but they don't make it 276 00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:12,760 Speaker 1: to the end of the season because they've they've run 277 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:16,360 Speaker 1: out of their sixty men roster. What happens is I 278 00:15:16,440 --> 00:15:20,280 Speaker 1: just tough luck. That's the way the ball bounces. Now, 279 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:22,480 Speaker 1: I mean, look from our perspective, I mean, these are 280 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:25,120 Speaker 1: the types of permutations that you just never know what's 281 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:28,320 Speaker 1: going to happen. Um, I think where it's you know, 282 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:31,800 Speaker 1: things that are truly COVID related are truly unexpected. You know, 283 00:15:31,840 --> 00:15:34,560 Speaker 1: we're trying to do you know, what we called bad beats, right, 284 00:15:34,560 --> 00:15:37,000 Speaker 1: which is go back to people and say, look, you 285 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:40,760 Speaker 1: know X, y Z, thing happened wasn't in your control 286 00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:44,320 Speaker 1: and or it was just something that was a new 287 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:47,360 Speaker 1: rule for this year, but probably you probably didn't get it. 288 00:15:47,440 --> 00:15:50,080 Speaker 1: You know, here's your stake back, or here's some promotional credits, 289 00:15:50,120 --> 00:15:52,560 Speaker 1: Like at the end of the day, you were playing 290 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:55,040 Speaker 1: for the long game, and we want to make sure 291 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:58,000 Speaker 1: our customers always feel like that we were fair and 292 00:15:58,120 --> 00:16:00,720 Speaker 1: you to the extent possible on their side, and so 293 00:16:00,840 --> 00:16:02,840 Speaker 1: were there are things that are just kind of bad beats. 294 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:05,000 Speaker 1: You know, we're going to lean into how do we 295 00:16:05,040 --> 00:16:08,400 Speaker 1: just make it right for customers, recognizing that, yes, that 296 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:11,640 Speaker 1: one futures that you have down is probably one of 297 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:13,720 Speaker 1: a lot of that's you're gonna be making throughout the year. 298 00:16:13,760 --> 00:16:15,920 Speaker 1: So I want to make sure you feel good about things. 299 00:16:15,960 --> 00:16:18,560 Speaker 1: And when the unexpected happens, we're gonna air on the 300 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:21,400 Speaker 1: side of the fan. I'm going to preach just for 301 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:24,840 Speaker 1: one second when you talk about bad beats, especially when 302 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:27,520 Speaker 1: you're in poker, and and please help me out here. 303 00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:32,040 Speaker 1: And this is to the obnoxious poker players out there 304 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:35,040 Speaker 1: who just bully and be a little others, because that's 305 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:38,760 Speaker 1: one bad for business and nobody wants to see that. Okay, 306 00:16:38,800 --> 00:16:42,080 Speaker 1: you got a bad beat and somebody beat you. You 307 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:44,920 Speaker 1: had aces and he had a pocket three and he 308 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:49,560 Speaker 1: called a three on the board. What do people like 309 00:16:49,640 --> 00:16:54,320 Speaker 1: you at fan duel and others to police that so 310 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:57,640 Speaker 1: the bullies are known, Hey, knock it off and quit 311 00:16:57,640 --> 00:17:01,840 Speaker 1: acting like you twelve years old. It's a great question, 312 00:17:01,840 --> 00:17:04,040 Speaker 1: and honestly, we use a lot of different channels. We 313 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:07,520 Speaker 1: obviously try to kind of survey it ourselves. We're always 314 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:10,560 Speaker 1: looking for feedback from players if they feel like there's 315 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:14,040 Speaker 1: bad behavior out there, and then you know, as possible 316 00:17:14,080 --> 00:17:18,280 Speaker 1: or as we see opportunities where that's happening or kind 317 00:17:18,280 --> 00:17:21,800 Speaker 1: of holes in our system, we'll try to close those, right. 318 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:26,040 Speaker 1: So it's sometimes that's you're putting controls around what types 319 00:17:26,080 --> 00:17:29,240 Speaker 1: of user names people can register or what types of 320 00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:32,800 Speaker 1: comments they can leave. So it's a multi threaded issue 321 00:17:32,800 --> 00:17:36,560 Speaker 1: because you're similar to every other social platform or tech 322 00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:39,320 Speaker 1: platform out there. You know, the people that are going 323 00:17:39,359 --> 00:17:41,840 Speaker 1: to be pains in the rear are always going to 324 00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:43,720 Speaker 1: find new ways to be pains in the rear. So 325 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:46,760 Speaker 1: it's it's pretty much a game lackable and what we're 326 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:50,400 Speaker 1: focused on, exactly your point, just building the most positive 327 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:54,399 Speaker 1: community that we can UM and policing that behavior requires 328 00:17:54,480 --> 00:17:57,960 Speaker 1: kind of everybody's input UM. And then you know, as 329 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:00,600 Speaker 1: we see patterns trying to make the rules owned isa, 330 00:18:00,760 --> 00:18:03,639 Speaker 1: look this is okay, this is not because they're always 331 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:05,520 Speaker 1: been people that try to take advantage and we want 332 00:18:05,520 --> 00:18:07,159 Speaker 1: to say a step ahead of them because we recognize 333 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:09,840 Speaker 1: it's got to be a great experience for people. So, Matt, 334 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:13,000 Speaker 1: I'm going to take you a little deeper into your 335 00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:15,680 Speaker 1: resume if I may to, to have you opened a 336 00:18:15,720 --> 00:18:17,920 Speaker 1: little bit on the future of the business. You worked 337 00:18:17,920 --> 00:18:21,080 Speaker 1: in private equity for arguably the best known private equity 338 00:18:21,119 --> 00:18:23,600 Speaker 1: firm in the world kk R, for I believe a decade. 339 00:18:24,119 --> 00:18:27,480 Speaker 1: As you analyze this, I'm sure you can't help but 340 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:29,600 Speaker 1: sort of put on your private equity had as you 341 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:33,680 Speaker 1: think about your business and the broader industry, how does 342 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:37,919 Speaker 1: this grow and change and how does the pandemic and 343 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:42,120 Speaker 1: everything else we're experiencing right now maybe change the trajectory 344 00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:45,440 Speaker 1: of not just your business but the overall industry. No, 345 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:47,880 Speaker 1: that's a great question. Yeah, it's and I'll probably give 346 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:50,720 Speaker 1: you a little bit of context. There's a lot of 347 00:18:50,720 --> 00:18:53,480 Speaker 1: people assume that I got into san Duel and fantasy 348 00:18:53,520 --> 00:18:56,200 Speaker 1: sports because I thought sports betting was inevitable, and then 349 00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:59,480 Speaker 1: the reality was I wasn't that smart. The reason I 350 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:04,320 Speaker 1: got into SANDEL was really an interest in kind of 351 00:19:04,320 --> 00:19:08,560 Speaker 1: the intersection of the growth in gaming combined with the 352 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:11,960 Speaker 1: disruption that I thought was going to be inevitable in 353 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:15,160 Speaker 1: the sports media landscape. Um, you know, you go back 354 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:20,200 Speaker 1: to when I joined, you had seen the disruption in music, 355 00:19:20,280 --> 00:19:23,760 Speaker 1: you had seen the disruption and scripted TV. But by 356 00:19:23,840 --> 00:19:28,040 Speaker 1: and large the kind of underwhelming or the overwhelming viewpoint 357 00:19:28,160 --> 00:19:30,760 Speaker 1: was that live sports was immune to that. And I 358 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:32,879 Speaker 1: think what the last five years have shown is that 359 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:36,040 Speaker 1: that's not the case. And so I think as it 360 00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:39,080 Speaker 1: relates to your question about what the outlook from here, 361 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:43,800 Speaker 1: you have it its core in the gaming side, a 362 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:48,480 Speaker 1: real expansion of online gaming, and a I think a 363 00:19:48,640 --> 00:19:52,560 Speaker 1: very easy path to you know, a fifteen plus billion 364 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:56,600 Speaker 1: dollar total addressable market, and unlike a lot of kind 365 00:19:56,600 --> 00:19:59,919 Speaker 1: of growth businesses, that growth in TAN is kind of 366 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:02,160 Speaker 1: very linear, right, And know how big the sports betting 367 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:06,560 Speaker 1: market is in New Jersey, and if Massachusetts legalizes it, 368 00:20:07,440 --> 00:20:10,359 Speaker 1: I can pretty much gu estimate how big Massachusetts is 369 00:20:10,400 --> 00:20:12,720 Speaker 1: going to be within a range. And so there's a 370 00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:16,040 Speaker 1: very clear path for growth and online gaming and the 371 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:18,560 Speaker 1: other lens we look at online gaming is also just 372 00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:21,240 Speaker 1: it's one of the few industries that has yet to 373 00:20:21,359 --> 00:20:24,720 Speaker 1: really undergo that offline to online shift. And it's not 374 00:20:24,800 --> 00:20:27,840 Speaker 1: about necessarily moving the same customers, it's about how you 375 00:20:27,880 --> 00:20:30,520 Speaker 1: grow the market so what we've seen in places like 376 00:20:30,560 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 1: New Jersey and Pennsylvania is online gaming isn't channibalizing land 377 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:38,879 Speaker 1: based gaming, it's actually adding to the overall gaming market. 378 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:42,720 Speaker 1: And so we think you'll see the next leg of 379 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:46,200 Speaker 1: growth and gaming really come from the growth and online 380 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:49,359 Speaker 1: because it's happened in every other industry out there. But 381 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:52,560 Speaker 1: then where I think it gets really interesting and the opportunity, 382 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:56,560 Speaker 1: the breakout opportunity lies is all of this is happening 383 00:20:56,560 --> 00:20:59,600 Speaker 1: in online gaming at the same time that you're seeing 384 00:20:59,720 --> 00:21:06,399 Speaker 1: real disruption in the sports media ecosystem and how people 385 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:09,240 Speaker 1: tune in, where they tune in, how long they want 386 00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:13,639 Speaker 1: to tune in is really changing, as is the technology 387 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:17,439 Speaker 1: and the availability of sports and a streaming landscape and 388 00:21:17,480 --> 00:21:21,640 Speaker 1: through streaming media, and that, from my perspective, creates real 389 00:21:21,680 --> 00:21:26,280 Speaker 1: opportunities because we have the largest database and user base 390 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:32,000 Speaker 1: of millennial sports fans that are cord cutters and also 391 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:34,960 Speaker 1: have funded wallets with us, and so there's a real 392 00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:38,760 Speaker 1: role we can play in shaping the next generation of 393 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:43,119 Speaker 1: the fan experience because the growth in our industry is 394 00:21:43,160 --> 00:21:46,800 Speaker 1: really corresponding and to the exact same period of disruption 395 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:49,520 Speaker 1: in sports media, and that I think creates a real 396 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:53,400 Speaker 1: opportunity to accelerate the business even further and also put 397 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:55,399 Speaker 1: a have a big play a big role in what 398 00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:58,639 Speaker 1: the next generation of sports looks like. Alright, bar you 399 00:21:58,680 --> 00:22:04,800 Speaker 1: get one last question, is house degenerate? Well, you know what, 400 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:07,240 Speaker 1: I want to bring this up. I know that the 401 00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:11,479 Speaker 1: revenues are going to be down this year because of COVID, 402 00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:14,560 Speaker 1: But and it goes back to what we were saying earlier, 403 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:18,800 Speaker 1: if more states decide, hey, we want to have online 404 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:21,920 Speaker 1: gambling too, because that's a great source of revenue for 405 00:22:22,000 --> 00:22:24,960 Speaker 1: us to have in the COVID nineteen era, it works 406 00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:27,119 Speaker 1: well for you guys. I'll scratch my back and you 407 00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:31,119 Speaker 1: scratch yours. Obviously, that can be a big revenue source 408 00:22:31,200 --> 00:22:33,600 Speaker 1: for you guys to pick up from where COVID nineteen 409 00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:37,639 Speaker 1: left off. Your thoughts about that? Sure, So yeah, I 410 00:22:37,640 --> 00:22:40,119 Speaker 1: think two things. Yeah. I think one is and you 411 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:42,600 Speaker 1: can see this in some of our publicly disclosed numbers 412 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:46,400 Speaker 1: and post COVID business is still growing um and so 413 00:22:46,920 --> 00:22:50,480 Speaker 1: because of the diversity of our business. Yeah, we've been 414 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:53,120 Speaker 1: growing our business even through COVID. So I think when 415 00:22:53,119 --> 00:22:55,840 Speaker 1: you look back at this year, you'll see that our 416 00:22:55,880 --> 00:22:59,000 Speaker 1: business grew at a very healthy rate even with COVID. 417 00:22:59,400 --> 00:23:02,640 Speaker 1: But a broader point about online gaming is exactly right, 418 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:05,920 Speaker 1: which is, we do think that there's a huge opportunity there. 419 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:08,800 Speaker 1: We do think that, again, it's going to fall into 420 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:12,399 Speaker 1: the bucket of common sense legislation where states are going 421 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:17,160 Speaker 1: to need tax revenue. We've demonstrated to the existing casino 422 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:21,000 Speaker 1: owners time and time again that online gaming is additive 423 00:23:21,560 --> 00:23:25,120 Speaker 1: to the overall gaming market and it's not cannibalistic, and 424 00:23:25,720 --> 00:23:29,200 Speaker 1: we can also demonstrate that this is something that customers want. 425 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:31,880 Speaker 1: And when you put those three factors together, we think 426 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:34,800 Speaker 1: that you're going to see a significant acceleration and the 427 00:23:34,800 --> 00:23:37,960 Speaker 1: growth of online gaming. Matt King, you're a good guy. 428 00:23:38,080 --> 00:23:40,840 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. 429 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:43,640 Speaker 1: We know it's an important time for business, and we 430 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:46,320 Speaker 1: are all happy, and probably no one happier than you 431 00:23:46,960 --> 00:23:51,439 Speaker 1: that sports are back because it provides an entirely new 432 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:54,879 Speaker 1: view of the world and one that provides us some 433 00:23:55,000 --> 00:23:58,399 Speaker 1: sense of normalcy. So we really appreciate it. I totally 434 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:01,320 Speaker 1: agree with that. Thank you very much for having on guys, 435 00:24:01,480 --> 00:24:07,080 Speaker 1: and uh, stay safe and enjoy the return of sports. Yeah, absolutely, 436 00:24:07,480 --> 00:24:09,639 Speaker 1: you can catch our podcast right here every Monday, Wednesday 437 00:24:09,640 --> 00:24:11,760 Speaker 1: and Thursday. I'm Jason Kelly on Twitter. Find me at 438 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:14,199 Speaker 1: Jason Kelly News, and I'm Michael Barr. I gotta get 439 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:15,880 Speaker 1: down here because I've gotta been on the Yankees game. 440 00:24:15,960 --> 00:24:19,960 Speaker 1: I'm at Big Bar Sports on Twitter and Bar lost 441 00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:25,600 Speaker 1: me at three in the pocket on poker on Mike Mike, 442 00:24:27,680 --> 00:24:30,200 Speaker 1: and I'm Michaelitch. You can find me at Lynch w CVB. 443 00:24:30,640 --> 00:24:33,120 Speaker 1: And you're listening to Bloomberg Business of Sports from Bloomberg 444 00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:34,680 Speaker 1: Radio around the world.