DraftKings Has Best Weekend Ever in Aftermath of Scandal
DraftKings logo (PRNewsFoto/DraftKings, Inc.)
An insider trading scandal has not stopped the rapid growth of the two biggest names in online gambling daily fantasy sports.
DraftKings and FanDuel experienced their best weekend ever on Sunday when a record number of people wagered a combined $45.6 million on games hosted by the two site according to an analysis by SuperLobby, a daily fantasy sports blog. Both sites, reportedly posted positive revenues after all the dust settled from this weekend’s NFL action for the first time since SuperLobby started tracking their numbers. Another way to look at this:
DraftKings: Users wagered $25,046,113.25 (up from $23.9 million during NFL Week 4), with 4.14 million total entries (up from 3.75 million during NFL Week 4.) The Boston-based site paid out $22.4 million, leaving itself with a $2.6 million profit, up from $1.9 million the week prior.
FanDuel: Users wagered $20,576,801 (up from $19.7 million during NFL Week 4), with 3.38 million total entries (up from 3.18 million during NFL Week 4) The New York-based site paid out $17.1 million, leaving itself with a $3.5 million profit, up from $1.7 million.
The increase in wagering comes at a time when the sites are receiving more scrutiny from state and federal regulators than ever before. At the heart of the debate is the issue of whether or not they are online gambling sites. Additionally, two class action lawsuits have been filed against the sites by players seeking unspecified damages in the aftermath of the insider trading allegations.
The parade of bad news even saw the companies pull their relentless advertising campaigns from the airwaves for a brief time when the news of insider trading was on page one of the New York Times. DraftKings and FanDuel have spent a combined $205.9 million on advertising in 2015 but last week the sites received more earned media than ever before but all of it was negative.
The old saying is true: there’s no such thing as bad publicity.
