DraftKings CEO: It would be “irresponsible” not to consider international expansion
Jason Robins adds that while overseas growth is a long-term goal, the Boston-based operator views non-US expansion as a potential distraction from the home front battle
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins has played down the prospect of commencing international expansion this year, arguing that M&A or organic spread across the globe could distract from core US efforts.
Speaking at a Morgan Stanley Technology, Media and Telecommunications Conference on 4 March, Robins issued an assessment on the operator’s appetite for M&A activity over the course of 2024.
Last year, DraftKings completed its $750m (584m) acquisition of lottery courier firm Jackpocket in May. Three months later, it reached an undisclosed agreement to acquire sports betting supplier Simplebet.
Further deals for Sports IQ and Dijon Systems were also completed, beefing up the operator’s sports betting offering.
Pressed for comment on whether 2025 could see a similar M&A pipeline, including snapping up an overseas business and expanding operations, Robins explained that more acquisitions was not something that DraftKings needed to secure anytime soon.
He said: “I think we’re pretty complete from that standpoint. If we do M&A, which is a big if – we might go a whole year and not do anything, we certainly don’t feel like we’re in a position where we have anything we need to do.
“It’s much more opportunistic for us at this point. Is there something that makes sense because the opportunity is so great, not because it is a need.
“I think the best example of that is international expansion. We definitely, at some point, would like to be a global company, but we don’t feel like that has to be now.”
The DraftKings CEO highlighted that while the operator could look to take advantage of the right international opportunity presenting itself, it’s not viewed as a pressing task to complete within the next 12 to 24 months.
Robins noted that more M&A could serve as a distraction from the firm’s efforts to capitalise on further growth in the North American market.
According to Robins, that risk of distraction means that the “bar has to be extremely high” for any future acquisition opportunities.
“We may get to a point where we say, ‘that’s something that we need to really get more serious about for the next phase of growth’, but we’re not there now,” he remarked.
“At the same time, it would be irresponsible for us to not have our eye on the international market, pay attention to what’s happening, see if there’s any organic or inorganic opportunities and be prepared to capitalise on them.”
DraftKings is one of two dominant forces in the US sports betting landscape, alongside Flutter-owned FanDuel.
Unlike DraftKings, FanDuel’s parent company boasts a vast array of international operations.
Flutter has a significant share of the market in Italy via its Sisal brand and likewise in Australia through Sportsbet.
In the UK alone, Flutter oversees Sky Betting & Gaming, Betfair, Paddy Power, tombola and PokerStars. The operator also has interests in India, Brazil, Turkey and Georgia.
DraftKings did push ahead with its DFS-only strategy in Europe, before pulling the plug on all of its markets over the past two years. The company also had a sponsorship deal with Premier League side Liverpool as part of its planned UK push.
Last month, the Boston-based company published its Q4 2024 results, which recorded a 13% year-on-year increase in revenue to $1.4bn.
The results also noted that DraftKings, which is currently live in 25 US states and DC via its sportsbook offering, expects to launch in Missouri soon, pending market access and regulatory approvals following the ballot initiative that saw voters support legalised sports betting last November.