For DraftKings CEO Jason Robins, the company faces a wide range of competitors, not just in terms of betting operators but also from ‘anything that anybody might choose to do to spend their recreational time’.
In a recent interview with CNBC, Robins discussed DraftKings’ marketing and customer acquisition strategies, its general approach to competing in the US market and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on US sports betting operators.
When quizzed as to which firms he believes are the biggest competitors to newly NASDAQ-listed DraftKings, he noted that “We view our competitors as going to the beach this summer.
“We think anything that anybody might choose to do to spend their recreational time, we want to give them a better experience where you know they choose to spend it with us.”
DraftKings’ main focus, he continued, is ensuring that customers get a varied experience and ‘get their money’s worth’ by choosing the operator as a source of entertainment.
Discussing the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on DraftKing’s customer acquisition rates, the CNBC host observed that the number of US bettors had skyrocketed during national lockdowns, but raised concerns that these figures may fall now measures are easing.
In 2020, DraftKings’ shares rose by 335%, but as punters begin to return to brick-and-mortar casinos, could this pose a risk to the online operator’s upward trajectory?
“We haven’t seen any drop off,” Robins remarked. “It’s still obviously early in the reopening, but we look at data every day – our cohorts look great and customer acquisition numbers look great. We’ve really not seen any slowdown in our numbers and in our business.”
DraftKing’s marketing, Robbins detailed, is focused primarily around customer acquisition and is largely data driven, the primary benefit of which is that customer acquisition costs (CAC) have remained lower than expected.
Although acknowledging that customer acquisition may have been fueled by the ‘stay at home nature’ of the pandemic, he remained confident that the easing of lockdown restrictions would not have a serious impact on customer retention.
“I don’t necessarily think there’ll be any impact on the retention side but I could see a little bit of a slowdown in customer acquisition,” he added.
“There’s so much growth right now in the industry. New states are opening – up five or six states have already passed this year – I don’t think anything is really going to be noticeable.”
Source – CNBC Television YouTube Channel
