Global Gaming Expo:

DraftKings CEO says less than 15 percent of his customers place sports bets

Jason Robins, CEO of DraftKings, speaks during a fantasy sports and sports betting panel Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2015, at the Global Gaming Expo. Moderator Tom Roche of Ernst & Young listens at left.

The relationship between regulated sports wagering and the booming daily fantasy sports industry, a widely debated subject, was explored but by no means settled at the Global Gaming Expo today.

Jason Robins, the chief executive of major daily fantasy sports operator DraftKings, appeared on a well-attended panel at the conference and defended his company’s product as a skill-based game distinct from sports wagering. He said daily fantasy sports was a different type of activity and compared it to chess, saying that his customers are able to gain an edge if they study the game well enough.

Daily fantasy sports is also enjoyed by a largely different group of people, Robins contended. He said that less than 15 percent of DraftKings customers have reported that they bet on sports in the traditional fashion, either through legal sports books or on the black market.

2015 Global Gaming Expo Opens

Cirque du Soleil performers pose in front of Cirque du Soleil-themed slot machines in the Scientifc Games booth during the Global Gaming Expo (G2E) at the Sands Expo Center Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2015. Launch slideshow »

“It’s quite a different experience, and it attracts quite a different customer,” he said.

Robins was joined on the panel by Jeff Burge, a top executive with sports wagering company CG Technology, and Chris Sheffield, managing director and senior vice president of interactive for Penn National Gaming.

Burge and Sheffield did not argue with Robins, but spoke more from their perspectives about the possibilities around daily fantasy sports. Their discussion was moderated by Thomas Roche, global director of services to the gaming industry for Ernst & Young.

Sheffield, for example, noted that traditional sports wagering companies could use fantasy sports as a sort of stepping stone to get new customers. He called it a “really interesting product” that interested his company.

Similarly, Burge said the two industries should be able to coexist without cannibalizing one another.

“By all of our estimates, there’s plenty of market to go around,” he said.

But exactly how they will coexist in the future remains somewhat of an open question. As the popularity of daily fantasy sports has grown, critics have argued that it is akin to gambling and should be treated — and regulated — as such. At least one member of Congress has called for a hearing on the matter.

At the same time, the American Gaming Association is investigating the issue. Geoff Freeman, the trade group’s president, said at a news conference today that legally speaking, daily fantasy is in “a gray area” in the eyes of many gaming regulators. He said it is the association’s job to clarify that.

If daily fantasy sports is legal, Freeman said that members of his industry should be involved with it.

And if not,“then that begs another whole host of questions,” he said.

Gaming

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