DraftKings Inc. spent another week paying out moneyline bettors whose teams went up by a touchdown — and the online sports betting promotion will live for at least one more game, although it won't last forever.
Boston-based DraftKings has paid out more than $75 million this NFL season due to an early-win promo that can hit when a team goes up by seven or 10 points, depending on the details.
The bookmaker continued to pay out early wins in multiple states during last week’s Thursday night game and then again for the weekend slate, including the Kansas City Chiefs-Indianapolis Colts matchup Sunday afternoon, in which both teams led by seven at one point.
DraftKings will continue the promotion for this week's Thursday nighter between the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals as well.
“We thoughtfully and analytically design, develop and deploy sportsbook promotions that we believe create engagement and build excitement around key moments on the sports calendar,” a company spokesperson told Covers on Monday. “While no promotion lasts forever, we are proud of the unique offerings we provide daily to our millions of customers. We will be offering our 7-Point Early Win Promotion for this week’s Thursday Night Football game between the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals.”
Gather 'round the tentpole
It had been reported DraftKings was scrapping the early-win promotion but the company told Covers that it was instead just mulling over its options. DraftKings has also highlighted that it has not shared total handle figures, without which determining whether the company lost money would be impossible.
Still, the scrutiny of the DraftKings early-win promo is indicative of the current business climate for the legal sports betting industry.
Bookmakers use a variety of promotions such as free bets and odds boosts to win market share in states with multiple operators. However, those promos add up, and the shareholders of publicly-traded gaming companies are pushing those firms to provide a path to profitability, which remains elusive for most.
“We develop these promos strategically and they typically don’t run forever,” a DraftKings spokesperson told Covers last week. “Please remember what promos are intended for – to create engagement and excitement around key tentpole moments on the sports calendar.”