Jason Robins, DraftKings’s Chief Executive Officer, has admitted that the company is open to accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment in the future.
During the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call, Robins was quizzed on topics ranging from the emergence of event markets to accepting stablecoins in the future.
“It’s certainly something we’re looking at. It’s not entirely a product roadmap question,” he explained.
With the absence of a federal framework for crypto in the United States of America, Robins emphasized that it may take a while before DraftKings offers crypto betting.
“It’s also getting regulatory comfortable with it because regulators typically are cautious around crypto in the states. Obviously, at a federal level, there’s a lot of pro-crypto deregulation, I think, coming,” he informed analysts.
Robins expects President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto stance to filter down through the State legislative system but acknowledges that it’s likely to take time. “That certainly affects the states’ perspectives, but they still need to get comfortable. There are only a handful of states that are open to it at the moment,” he continued.
He ended his answer to the question: “If that grows to a larger number of states, it’s something that I think we take a more serious look at.”
DraftKings’ Stock Surges Following Strong Financial Results
In the last week, DraftKings has seen billions added to its market capitalization after a 25 percent uptick in share price. The company reported positive Adjusted EBITDA for the first time for the 2024 financial year at $181.3 million, compared to negative $151.0 million in 2023.
Revenue growth was also impressive, rising from $3.67 billion last year to $4.77 billion in FY2024. Fourth quarter revenue was also up 13 percent on the same period in 2023, reaching $1.39 billion.
The sports betting behemoth attributes revenue growth and its positive financial outlook to efficient customer acquisition, a higher structural hold percentage, the successful acquisition and integration of Jackpocket Inc., and the expansion of sportsbook products into new jurisdictions.
The company boasted 4.8 million monthly unique players in the final quarter of 2024 but saw a 16 percent decrease in average revenue per player to $97. In the investor update, the operator emphasized that the lower average is due to Jackpocket customers tending to have lower average revenue. It also outlined that the NFL season produced favorable results for bettors, impacting football hold percentage.
Legal Challenges: DraftKings and the NFLPA NFT Dispute
DraftKings has previously delved into crypto with the launch of its own NFT Marketplace. The marketplace was closed last July after a federal judge found that NFTs fell “within the meaning” of the Securities and Exchange Act and could legally be classified as securities.
Late last month, DraftKings and the National Football League Players Association reached an out-of-court settlement after the NFLPA accused the operator of failing to pay for using player likeliness in NFTs.
The NFLPA revealed it was suing DraftKings in August, seeking $65 million in damages. The final settlement figure was redacted in the settlement filing. The last remaining hurdle is for a judge to sign off on the settlement agreement.
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