“You know you’ve made it when you’re actually the subject of a question at a presidential debate,” said DraftKings co-Founder & CEO Jason Robins on Thursday during a one-on-one Q&A at the '15 NeuLion Sports Media & Technology Conference. But sometimes companies are talked about for all the wrong reasons, which has been the case for DraftKings and others in the daily fantasy sports industry in the last few weeks. Robins said he was initially “stunned” at the quick spread of a story claiming that one of his employees used inside information to win hundreds of thousands of dollars playing daily fantasy. However, he seemed confident that daily fantasy will survive the controversy. “I’m hoping that in the not-to-distant future, it’s died down enough that it’s not taking up the dominant portion of my day,” Robins said. “But right now, [we are] just making sure that we’re doing all the things we can to be open and transparent, and to show people that we’re a good company, that we’re doing things the right way, we’re behaving responsibly, we’re taking any issues very seriously, we’re very open and interested in cooperating with any authorities that would like to have input in this area. And I think if we do those things that everything will work out.”
WHAT DUEL? Robins said that a silver lining through this otherwise tumultuous time has been the support and unification of other DFS companies, including DraftKings' biggest competitor, FanDuel. The two companies have continued to compete for customers, but, Robins said, “When it comes to setting best practices, standards, mechanisms for oversight for the industry, it is of critical importance that both companies work in tandem, and I think both management teams, both boards, really understand that.” He added, “This whole experience has probably even more so kind of made us say, ‘Look, we’ve got to put any swords down that we were battling with and really focus on this now.’ … In that sense, it’s kind of been a good moment. It feels good to know that our partner in this industry, FanDuel, is a company that we can work with.”
SHARKS & MINNOWS: A four-member panel on Wednesday touched on a wide range of fantasy sports topics, including how daily fantasy sports can and should evolve over time. Attorney Glenn Colton said this issue has been “very much overblown” and likened it to investing in the stock market. “When I invest, I don’t think I’m going to become the next Warren Buffett,” he said, and daily fantasy players are the same way. “They’re not thinking, honestly, ‘OK, I’m going to win millions. I’m going to retire.’” RotoWire President and Fantasy Sports Trade Association Chair Peter Schoenke said it is important for daily fantasy operators to think creatively so that the person who is “not going to put in the time has a chance and can be competitive against the guy who’s got a lot of time.” A step in the right direction in that regard are games such as Draft Ops’ “Pick 3” contest, in which players choose one QB, one RB and one WR each week. The alternative option has been promoted through media integration on “The Rich Eisen Show.” One of the participants brought his grandmother in for fun, and she has been the leader for four straight weeks. “That’s kind of what we’re getting at,” said DraftOps CMO Pete Rinato. “You don’t have to be an expert. It’s fun, it’s easy, and to the extent that more and more games like that can be developed, I think the market as a whole will be better.”
