While some sports betting operators had a tough second quarter, DraftKings reported $1.1 billion in revenue, a 26% year-over-year increase, during its earnings call last week. The company attributed some of that revenue increase to retaining mobile betting customers and attracting new ones, including in North Carolina, according to CEO Jason Robins.
“We very efficiently acquired many more new customers than we expected and saw continued healthy existing customer engagement in the second quarter,” Robins said.
DraftKings CEO optimistic about the coming months
March saw the debut of online sports betting in North Carolina, and that month was successful as bettors took advantage of promo offers to give the market “a strong start.” However, promo spending tapered off in subsequent months, as did the total betting handle.
But as smaller operators struggled and one even left, DraftKings continued to benefit from an influx of new customers in the state.
“We got some boost from North Carolina having launched in late Q1,” Robins said.
The state has yet to report its July revenue numbers. However, with the Olympics in full swing and football season on the horizon, DraftKings is optimistic about late summer and fall, according to Robins. He said,
“All of us at DraftKings are very excited for the start of football season. Our product is in a great position, as we are continuing to differentiate ourselves by investing in new features and functionality for sportsbook and iGaming. In sportsbook, we recently launched in-house player prop wagers for [the] NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, college football, college basketball, and tennis. We also broadened our progressive parlays to include spread and total wagers.”
DraftKings plans gaming tax surcharge in high-tax states
DraftKings and FanDuel dominate online sports betting in the state. Based on data from Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, a market research company, DraftKings Sportsbook NC has a 28% market share, second only to FanDuel, which has 50%.
Nationally, the operators are closer, with FanDuel at 35% and DraftKings right behind at 32%.
DraftKings also announced a controversial gaming tax surcharge in high-tax states like New York and Illinois. It’s scheduled to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025. North Carolina’s tax rate is far below those states at 18%, compared to 51% in New York and the 40% graduated tax rate applied to DraftKings in Illinois. As such, North Carolina customers can count themselves lucky that they will not have to pay DraftKings’ surcharge on winnings.
Image Credit: Matt Kelley / AP Images
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