After a first quarter that saw dramatic increases in revenue and monthly unique players, DraftKings on Friday said it’s poised to ride the wave of online sports betting and gaming legalization in the United States.
In its press release announcing its Q1 2021 results, which included a 175% increase in revenue and a 114% increase in monthly unique paying customers compared to Q1 2020, the operator noted it is live with online sports betting in 12 states that collectively represent 25% of the US population, and live with online gaming in four states, representing approximately 10% of the US population.
In the first quarter of this year, DraftKings launched mobile sports betting and online gaming in Michigan and mobile sports betting in Virginia.
Already this year, DraftKings noted 25 state legislatures have introduced legislation to legalize mobile sports betting, five state legislatures have introduced legislation to expand their existing sports wagering frameworks, and one state legislature has introduced legislation to legalize sports betting limited to retail locations.
In addition, four states have introduced online gaming legislation and three states have introduced online poker legislation.
Three of the states that introduced legislation to legalize mobile sports betting this year – Wyoming, Arizona and New York – have already enacted mobile sports wagering laws. DraftKings said Maryland has made significant progress with a mobile and retail sports wagering bill that passed the legislature and is awaiting action from Governor Larry Hogan (pictured).
The three states that have enacted mobile sports wagering laws this year represent 8% of the US population and bring the percentage of the population with legalized mobile sports betting to 35%, the company said.
Jason Park, DraftKings’ chief financial officer, said in a statement the company’s first quarter results, “reflect solid customer acquisition and retention as well as successful launches of mobile sports betting and online gaming in new states. We are raising our revenue outlook for 2021 due to the outperformance of our core business in the first quarter and our expectation for continued healthy growth.”
