SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
DraftKings, the world’s largest Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) platform, has announced plans to expand into Ireland and Austria.
The Boston-based provider will offer several football leagues to Irish and Austrian players, including the English Premier League, UEFA Champions League and Spanish La Liga, as well as golf (PGA and European Tour), mixed martial arts, Esports, Canadian Football League, EuroLeague Basketball and an extensive range of American Sports.
The platform launch will be marked by a promotion offering gamers the chance to win tickets to the upcoming Premier League fixture between Liverpool and Manchester United this Saturday.
Jason Robins, DraftKings Chief Executive, said: “Sports fans in Europe are embracing the game inside the game through DraftKings’ contests and content.
“As we looked to expand our European footprint, it was an easy choice to launch in Ireland and Austria, given their renowned passion for sports.”
The Emerald Isle had long been earmarked by the company as a desirable expansion market, due to the country’s well-known passion for all things sport.
The Philip Lee Sport Report II notes that there are 2.7 million people in Ireland interested in sports, of which 2.1 million attended professional and amateur sporting events in 2016. The country also spent €2.5 billion on the sports industry last year alone.
Jeffrey Haas, DraftKings Chief International Officer, said: “Ireland’s sports culture runs deep, with hundreds of thousands of passionate fans following both ‘proper football’ and ‘gridiron football’ across European and American sports leagues.
“Irish football fans will find many opportunities to test their wits on DraftKings while enjoying a new way to sweat the action during fixtures.
“We enhance that connection with our exciting contests, innovative content and real-time sports analysis and data. DraftKings is essentially the second screen for sports fans watching a match at the pub, at home or on the go.”
The expansion into Ireland and Austria comes 18 months after DraftKings first opened in Europe, with considerable growth figures recorded during this period.
September 2017 saw 51% year-over-year growth in entry fees and 31% year-over-year growth in new customers in the UK, and 46% month-over-month growth in registered customers in Germany – the largest monthly growth to-date.
