DraftKings CEO Jason Robbins is looking to disrupt US sports betting markets in a big way with the upcoming launch of a progressive parlay product. Speaking at the Annual Craig Hallum Online Gaming Conference 2023 Robbins said the groundbreaking product is “just weeks away” from its launch.
As described, the progressive parlay allows players to hedge their bets so that a single losing leg does not crush an entire wager. Details of how exactly that’s going to work have been scarce and the product is still in its beta testing phase.
Robbins did elaborate on why product innovation is so important for operators in the hyper-competitive US sports betting market in comments reported on by SBC Americas saying, “I’m excited about it, because it’s differentiated and it’s also something in that category of really strong value proposition for the customer. The opportunity to, even if you don’t hit every leg of your parlay, be able to win something. It gives you that sort of still thrill of chasing the big payout, but there’s some consolation prizes in there.
“It’s an example of us not just trying to reinvent the wheel, but looking around the world. This is not a new product. There are other progressive parlays. There’s nobody really in our competition set in the major online US players that are doing it.”
DraftKings, and of the other US sports betting operators, have focused heavily on parlays and with good reason. The sky-high payouts offered by these multi-legged wagers have a strong pull on players, and are statistically unlikely to win. That said, Robbins did admit that after the progressive parlay is perfected, there wouldn’t be much room to innovate in that product category.