DraftKings Using Wimbledon to Roll Out New In-Game Product to Online Bettors

Posted on: July 9, 2019, 08:20h. 

Last updated on: July 9, 2019, 08:20h.

Steve Bittenbender Read More
Expertise: Legislation, Sports Betting, Horse Racing.

Since Wimbledon began nine days ago, DraftKings has used the prestigious tennis tournament to launch a new in-game betting product. So far, representatives with the US sportsbook has been more than pleased with what they’ve seen.

DraftKings introduced Flash Bet, its new in-game betting product, during Wimbledon. The sportsbook said nearly everyone who has placed any bet on the tennis tournament has placed at least one bet on an in-game wager. (Image: DraftKings)

Flash Bet is designed to enable bettors to place quick wagers on the outcome of plays, and if they win, they receive their money within seconds after the play is over.

Dan Hannigan-Daley, the company’s director of sportsbook product told Casino.org on Tuesday that it’s limited to just tennis for now. DraftKings will offer Flash Bet during future tournaments, including the US Open. However, company officials believe it can be utilized for other sports, such as baseball and US football in the near future.

In tennis, gamblers can make bets on points or games. After placing a bet, the bettor can watch the bet play out on a live-action user interface that allows them to see the action and result. In addition, they also see the immediate past results, which they can use to help them determine what bets they may want to make.

Hannigan-Daley said the interface resembles what on online blackjack player may see.

It’s definitely more of an experiential thing, which is what we were looking to do,” he said. “These are betting markets, point-by-point, game-by-game that we did offer before. It did decently well, and that’s one of the reasons why we sought to actually build out this experience focusing on the two markets (point and game betting) specifically. Based on how that goes, we’ll look at additional markets or additional sports.”

Flash Bet is being offered in addition to other live betting options DraftKings provides its customers. Wimbledon may have only produced about $3 million in total bets over the last nine days, but Hannigan-Daley said 98 percent of people who have bet on Wimbledon have made at least one in-game wager. In-game wagers have accounted for about two-thirds of the handle during the tournament.

Growth in Live Betting

While many sports betting experts and insiders point to in-game betting as the future of the industry, the rapidly expanding US market has not yet completely embraced the concept. However, DraftKings data shows that it is gaining acceptance.

Across all sports at DraftKings, roughly 70 percent of the bets taken are pre-match. However, Hannigan-Daley notes that about 70 percent of DraftKings bettors have placed at least one live bet at some point.

“We’ve seen some pretty decent growth there month over month as users become more comfortable with wagering on our platform,” he said.

It’s not just in football and baseball where in-game betting could take off, as Hannigan-Daley noted DraftKings also offers hole-by-hole betting in golf.

Focused on Online

While DraftKings does run retail sportsbooks in New Jersey and Mississippi, online is where the company – which started as a player in the daily fantasy sports market seven years ago – has made its mark. It, along with rival FanDuel, dominate the New Jersey market. According to a CNBC report, the two companies account for 83 percent of the bets placed in the Garden State.

Hannigan-Daley said the company is looking to build off that success and grow into other states, and Flash Bet should be one of the products that will help them grow.

“We’re definitely highly focused on the digital experience,” he said. “Ninety percent of our wagers come from a mobile device. So that’s either the Android or the vast majority coming from our (Apple) iOS application.”