FanDuel and DraftKings ready to roll if US Supreme Court changes law

FanDuel and DraftKings have added their names to the list of companies, organisations and sporting codes eagerly awaiting a positive ruling from the US Supreme Court on the legalisation of sports betting.

The two daily fantasy sports companies will extend their wares into the sports betting realm if the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, 1992 is overturned.

FanDuel and DraftKings made an unsuccessful attempt to merge in 2017 and if the deal went through, they would have controlled about 90% percent stakes of the gambling industry in New Jersey.

The new CEO for FanDuel, Matt King, has revealed his plans for the company. With FanDuel and DraftKings being competitors with almost the same product and services, the new CEO has the task to prove the viability and sustainability of the company.

FanDuel had a revenue increase of 10% year over year with active users growing by 20%. In addition, active users in the new free-to-play contests are up 60%.

On his priorities as a CEO, King said FanDuel currently focuses on product-driven and marketing-driven growth. He said considering the potential of the daily fantasy sports industry, much has not been done in terms of product innovations.

“Marketing will always be a core part of what we do, but that marketing should serve to enhance the product itself as opposed to it being the only way we drive user growth,” King said.

“That’s probably the biggest change I’ve made.”

King also said it was important for FanDuel to “differentiate based on simplicity”.

“We’ve always tried to adopt an approach focused on the casual fan. To me, simplicity is the key to turning this into a business that has several million paid active users to one that has 10 to 15 million paid active users.”

“The number of registered users we have is growing dramatically,” he said.

“People are engaging at different times of the year, and we’re accessing a broader audience out there. Users are up double digits from last year, and we’re seeing more users on the site. A number of users that we had lost have also come back.”

King was however careful about commenting on the outcome of the Supreme Court Ruling saying “I would not venture to give you a view. All I know is that a decision has been made. It’s sitting there in an envelope somewhere, and frankly, we’re excited about the future whatever the decision is.”

The existing PASPA law has a ban on sports betting in place in all states except four. The NCAA vs. Christie is a case sent to court in New Jersey to seek the invalidation of the law as it terms it illegal.

According to statistics, about $150 billion is accrued from illegal betting annually.