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DraftKings Sportsbook may be coming to a state near you soon. The gaming company reached in a massive access deal with Caesars Entertainment on Feb. 24.
DraftKings will now have access to 11 of the 13 states where Caesars owns a property. The only exceptions to the deal are the New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
However, DraftKings already maintains its presence in New Jersey. So, the company in black and green needs only to focus its attention on finding a partner in the Pennsylvania casino market.
In return, Caesars Entertainment received a significant equity stake in DraftKings. Caesars will also benefit from its new designation as DraftKings’ official casino partner, and DraftKings will promote Caesars’ products across its suite of offerings. So, Caesars will have a continuing interest in seeing the upstart daily fantasy sports provider expand and grow.
Of course, expanding and growing is really all that DraftKings has done since sports betting casino.
“Partnering with such a world-class-gaming organization will expedite our national rollout process and give us the opportunity to work alongside one the largest and most established industry leaders in the world,” said DraftKings CEO Jason Robins, in a statement. “We look forward to collaborating with Caesars Entertainment on creating the most innovative and engaging sports and entertainment products and events for our customers.”
The deal comes on the heels of quite a few significant Caesars’ partnerships.
DraftKings seeing FanDuel in the rear view, plus expansion plans
The expanded access might be a welcome shot in the arm for DraftKings, particularly in New Jersey. The operator has seen its perennial rival, FanDuel, looming larger behind it in the revenue numbers.
At one point in 2018, DraftKings enjoyed nearly three times as much sports betting revenue as its fellow daily fantasy sports company. But the gap has closed tremendously in the past few months, with DraftKings only standing tall by roughly $1 million in revenue each month.
Thankfully, almost every new state for DraftKings either has sports betting active already or is considering it at the legislative level. DraftKings will now be able to expand its operations into the following states (with their statuses):
- Arizona: Bill(s) under consideration
- California: No bills filed
- Illinois: Bill(s) under consideration
- Indiana: Bill(s) under consideration
- Iowa: Bill(s) under consideration
- Louisiana: Bill(s) in the pipeline but not introduced
- Maryland: Bill(s) under consideration
- Mississippi: Active sports betting
- Missouri: Bill(s) under consideration
- Nevada: Active sports betting
- New Jersey: Active sports betting
Obviously, New Jersey and Mississippi are redundant for DraftKings. The company is likely focusing on the positives of 11 new territories to pursue.
Also, DraftKings West Virginia sometime this year. So, even if FanDuel is making up some ground, it’s still pretty good to be the king.
