SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
US based daily fantasy sports operator DraftKings entered the UK market in February 2016 having secured a UKGC licence, but the question of its success in entrancing UK customers with its DFS product remains very much unanswered.
The company secured impressive partnerships with the likes of Liverpool and Arsenal but has yet to embark on a no holds barred nationwide marketing campaign, such as it did to undeniable success in the States. It has been suggested that the operator’s, and indeed the wider industry’s, legal tussles in the United States have proven so costly that the company has been reluctant to invest heavily in overseas marketing.
As such many in the UK remain ignorant about real money DFS and DraftKings. David Copeland, CEO at SuperLobby.com, a UK based site that tracks betting activity on DFS sites including DraftKings, said: “They have had virtually no traction whatsoever. The casual U.K. bettor has probably never heard of DraftKings.”
DraftKings Chief International Officer Jeffrey Haas rejected this claim and told The Associated Press: “We’re getting a very favorable response. I can’t quantify that specifically, but from a trend perspective, it’s going in the right direction for us.”
Haas noted how they’re on track to meet their target of 100,000 new players in the first year and that tens of thousands have already signed up. The upcoming Premier League season will naturally be a major test of whether DFS is going to take off in the UK.
DraftKings’ major US rival FanDuel is poised to launch in time for the new season, with company spokesperson Emily Bass stating that the product will be “custom-tailored” to UK players.
Of the pending FanDuel introduction Haas said: “All the competition rushing to the U.K. market is good for us. A rising tide lifts all ships, if you will.”
