One of the leading daily fantasy sports (DFS) companies on a global scale, DraftKings, revealed its expansion in Australia. As the operator explained, it is set to start offering its DFS contests to Australia-based players over the second quarter of the current fiscal year.
Australia is the first country outside of Europe and North America where DraftKings gets a permission to operate, as well as the eighth country where the company is available to customers. For the time being, the DFS company operates in the UK, Ireland, Malta, Austria, Germany, the US and Canada. So far, DraftKings has worked with lawmakers and regulatory bodies in 19 states in the US alone, aiming to bring more up-to-date and flexible regulations to action, as well as much more transparent gambling environment to consumers.
At the time when the official statement of the company was issued, Jason Robins, the Chief Executive Officer of DraftKings, shared that the DFS market of Australia had evolved over the past few years, with a variety of daily fantasy sports platforms being added and offering a vast range of sports to everyone who wanted to get closer to the teams, athletes and sports. Mr. Robins further explained that Australia was an important market for his company, due to the fact it offers an excellent player base, combining tech-oriented customers and devoted sports fans.
DraftKings also revealed that the Northern Territory Racing Commission has granted it with a government operating license. The latter provides the company with the permission to offer daily fantasy sports to Australian customers. According to an article on DFS by King & Wood Mallesons, currently there are about 1.65 million Australian customers who play traditional fantasy sports.
Launch in Australia Could Be Challenging
Considering the fact that according to the above-mentioned report there are currently 1.65 million traditional DFS players in Australia, DraftKings could have a massive potential growth in the country.
Still, the expansion of the DFS operator to Australia comes at a time when the regulatory landscape has become more challenging for gambling companies. The Federal Government has been focused on unveiling some regulatory changes to impose stricter regime on the local gambling market. It was exactly these changes which have made a number of gambling operators to reconsider their presence in Australia, with some of them choosing to withdraw their operations from the country.
As far as the players’ base is concerned, DraftKings revealed that approximately 80% of players have increased their consumption of sports content, with two-thirds of the company’s customers saying that DFS contests make watching sports more enjoyable. The operator further revealed that 60% of the DFS customers explaining that they watch more live sports and read more sports articles since they became involved with DraftKings and their offering. In addition, 60% of DFS customers report they watch games involving teams the do not usually follow thanks to the fact they are following certain fantasy players.
- Author
Olivia Cole
