Regardless of where daily fantasy sports falls on the gambling spectrum, DraftKings will soon be a gambling operator in New Jersey. The DFS giant will likely roll out its online sportsbook as soon as permitted by state law.
The company made its intentions clear even before the US Supreme Court ruled the sports betting ban in the United States to be unconstitutional. The company hired a “Head of Sportsbook” back in February 2018.
DraftKings also opened a Hoboken, NJ office at that time. At present, the company website still lists 18 open positions at that office that are all classified as sportsbook positions.
The Supreme Court issued its ruling on May 14. Billboards and electronic advertising began to appear in New Jersey less than two weeks afterward.
While the billboards seemed confident, questions about how and with whom the company would come to New Jersey as a sportsbook remained. DraftKings has managed to answer both questions this summer.
DraftKings now has its essential partnerships in place
The first step for DraftKings was to secure a land-based partner. New Jersey state law requires companies to be attached to an Atlantic City casino or a racetrack elsewhere in the state to conduct sports wagering.
On June 1, DraftKings answered that question. The DFS provider announced a deal with Resorts Atlantic City to open a sports betting site and app under the Atlantic City casino’s license.
Now that DraftKings had its ticket into the New Jersey market, it had to focus on the nuts and bolts of bringing an online sportsbook, well, online. Though the company had plenty of experience building around a technology platform, managing the new onslaught of wagers was a different animal entirely.
This week, we learned that DraftKings has partnered with sportsbook provider Kambi Group. The international company is a renowned provider of online platforms designed exactly for an operator like DraftKings.
DraftKings isn’t home yet
So, DraftKings looks to be in good shape. However, it must still clear one last hurdle to proceed.
Quite simply, it must gain approval from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. According to the new regulations, DraftKings still needs to get a license to offer sports wagering in the state.
However, there are no signs that DraftKings will be unsuccessful in gaining approval.
There is still some uncertainty about how soon the platform would be ready for business. DraftKings management has boasted about opening from “day one.”
However, given that its partnership with Kambi was not announced long ago, it’s not clear if that is true. Of course, there’s no indication about how long the approval process would take, either.
