DraftKings tries to attract more bettors as ESPN Bet looms

DraftKings is adopting a new tagline—“The crown is yours”—as it bids to win new sports betting customers as the NFL season kicks off.

The slogan will roll out in a TV ad starting Aug. 21. The spot features comedian and longtime spokesperson Kevin Hart and former NFL quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick promoting an offer for new users in which they will receive $200 in “bonus bets” after placing a $5 bet. (“Bonus bets” are essentially bet credits; only the winnings from these bets are withdrawable.)

The ad, which will run across TV, digital and social channels, was done in-house. 

The campaign comes as would-be competitors with considerable marketing heft prepare to challenge the sportsbook market leadership duopoly of DraftKings and FanDuel. In a $2 billion deal announced last week, Penn Entertainment said it would rebrand its Barstool Sportsbook app to ESPN Bet, a service that according to Penn would be “deeply ingrained” within ESPN’s editorial and sports programming.

Another new competitor is Fanatics, which launched its sportsbook in January and this summer acquired the U.S. assets of its larger rival PointsBet.

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Penn’s Barstool Sportsbook, associated with the Barstool Sports website, had less than 5% market share among sportsbooks. DraftKings and FanDuel between them control 75% of the market, with FanDuel controlling 47% of revenue and DraftKings owning 28%, according to Dustin Gouker, a sports betting analyst.

Penn projected ESPN Bet could control as much as 20% of the market by 2027. “We’re not doing this deal to be 4% or 5% market share players,” said Jay Snowden, president and CEO of Penn, in a conference call discussing the deal.

DraftKings’ new tagline plays off its logo, and speaks to the company’s customer-centric approach, according to Chief Marketing Officer Stephanie Sherman. DraftKings ads previously said, “Action so good, why bet anywhere else?”

“We really wanted to create something that’s inclusive to all customers, invitational, and really reinforcing the commitment that we have to our customers,” Sherman said in an interview.

While the tagline is new, Hart is not. He starred as a flummoxed party host in DraftKings’ 2023 SuperBowl ad, among other spots for the app.

“The witty approach, taken in conjunction with really simple, enticing promotions that we can offer both new and existing customers, is something that we wanted to continue into this year,” Sherman said. 

Fitzpatrick, who plays on his “Fitzmagic” nickname, is a new addition and could be the first of several, Sherman added. “There’s more to come on the retired player front.” (Active NFL players are prohibited from appearing in sports gambling marketing.)

The campaign comes along with improvements in the DraftKings app, rolling out in time for the start of the football season, when sportsbooks typically capture the most new customers. Those include extended same-game parlay capabilities (the ability to make multiple bets on the same event) and faster bet settlements.

“This is the most important time of the year. This is when we acquire the most customers, when we have the biggest opportunity to gain more market share, to where we generate the most revenue, we'll generate the most [earnings],” Jason Robins, DraftKings CEO, said in an earnings conference call last week.

Sherman declined to share how much DraftKings would spend on the new campaign but said the company was spending more efficiently as it grows. “What we're really seeing is as we continue to scale, and sports betting continues to legalize across the states, we've been able to drive significant efficiencies, as we lean into national spending. With nearly 50% of the population legalized, we've really been able to drive efficiencies there,” she said.

DraftKings disclosed 2022 ad spending of $965 million. The company reported sales and marketing expenses of $597 million in the first half of the current year, a 15% increase from last year.

Flutter Entertainment’s U.S. operations, including FanDuel, TVG, Fox Bet and PokerStars, spent $1.19 billion on U.S. sales and marketing expenses in 2022, according to Ad Age Datacenter’s calculations. The group’s first-half 2023 U.S. spending totaled about $597 million, a 15% increase from last year, matching DraftKings’ spending, according to Ad Age Datacenter. (Fox Bet, which dates to a 2019 deal with Fox Corp., is closing this month. Fox Corp. continues to own a stake in Dublin-based Flutter.)

ESPN Bet is expected to launch in November, and so will miss the start of the football season. Snowden said ESPN Bet would be “really focused on customer acquisition and retention and cross-sell over the course of the next 12 months.”

Before its acquisition of PointsBet, Fanatics operated in just four states: Massachusetts, Maryland, Ohio and Tennessee. PointsBet this month said state-by-state approval of the Fanatics takeover was “tracking as planned.” Fanatics, though is facing some scrutiny of its “character and fitness” as it seeks to take over the license of PointsBet in New York. Before its acquisition of PointsBet, Fanatics was reportedly denied a license from the state. 

Gouker expressed some skepticism that ESPN Bet could reach its goals as rapidly as expected.

“Is 20% of the U.S. sports betting market possible? ... I think absolutely everything would have to go right for them to realistically get to that mark in the next few years,” Gouker said. “They would have to significantly grow the market and find new sports bettors, in addition to taking share from the existing operators. They are also coming to market just as Fanatics is joining the fray, which is yet more headwind to gaining market share.”

DraftKings has a long history as an advertiser and media partner with ESPN. Asked about the forthcoming sportsbook product, Sherman remarked: “We’ve had a longstanding, great relationship with ESPN. And [we are] viewing this as an indicator that the mainstream adoption of legalized sports betting in North America is continuing.”