- DraftKings CEO Jason Robins emphasizes that users should take betting strictly for its entertainment value, but many sports bettors think differently.
While more Americans choose to bet on sports as a way to invest, DraftKings warns against it.
“It’s an entertainment product. It’s not something that we recommend people looking at as an investment,” CEO Jason Robins told Fortune.
Many bettors feel otherwise. A report from NerdWallet this month said 31% of sports bettors perceive gambling as an investment. This is up from 14% in last year’s survey.
The latest survey also found that the most common reason Americans bet on sports was to make extra money (65%), edging past gambling for enjoyment (61%) and doing it to have fun with friends and family (53%).
NerdWallet said the average sports bettor spent $3,284 in the past 12 months, and 40% of them say they’ve had net gains in the past 12 months, suggesting the rest did not.
“Most people over the long term, you know, they understand that they’re likely to lose money,” Robins said. “So I think that it's much more of, 'I enjoy this and it entertains me and it's worth me spending on in the same way that I would spend on, you know, anything I find entertaining, going out to the movies or going out to dinner or whatever.’”
Experts emphasize that gambling on sports as an investment vehicle is a slippery slope.
Sports betting is more akin to day trading than long-term investing, Stephen Shapiro, a sports and entertainment professor at the University of South Carolina, told Fortune.
“Typically, risk is evaluated and considered more heavily in investing, and although there is risk involved in both activities, it can be accounted for in more depth within the context of investments,” he said.
NerdWallet personal finance expert Elizabeth Ayoola said there isn’t anything inherently wrong with betting on sports—as long as it doesn’t hinder personal finance objectives. Roughly 45% of sports bettors say they rarely make bets more than $20, according to the survey.
While making money off sports betting is possible, NerdWallet notes that it’s risky, and a safer investment strategy is to invest in a low-cost, well-diversified index fund.
Meanwhile, DraftKings also reported earnings on Thursday. Full-year revenue grew 30% to $4.77 billion. Losses in 2024 narrowed to $507 million from $802 million from a year ago. On an adjusted basis, the company swung to a profit of $181 million from a loss of $151 million.
Monthly unique players averaged 4.8 million at the end of the year, up 36% from a year ago.
Along with sports betting, the company offers traditional casino games, online lottery, and daily fantasy sports. DraftKings Sportsbook makes up the company’s most lucrative revenue stream, allowing users to bet on sports within professional and collegiate athletics.
DraftKings stock has tripled since going public via a SPAC merger in 2020, and so far in 2025, it's already up 44%.
