DraftKings 'Pick6' No Longer Available in Maryland

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00:00 (upbeat music)

00:03 - All right, let's talk about Pick Six here.

00:05 There may be some people unfamiliar with this, Matthew,

00:07 maybe we should catch them up too,

00:08 but DraftKings Pick Six has been removed from Maryland,

00:11 still available in other states.

00:13 But how is this different

00:15 than the actual DraftKings account?

00:17 - Yeah, so if you remember, Craig,

00:20 we've been talking about these DFS companies

00:22 like PrizePicks and Underdogs

00:24 who are taking a different approach to daily fantasy sports.

00:28 And they're offering something that looks an awful lot

00:30 like a sports betting prop bet.

00:32 You can go in and just select,

00:34 is this guy gonna go over or under yards?

00:36 Is this guy gonna go over or under points, blocks and steals?

00:40 And it's all very standard stuff

00:43 that you would be able to find

00:44 on pretty much any sports betting app out there.

00:47 DraftKings launched this Pick Six standalone product,

00:52 which is basically exactly that as well

00:55 to continue competing on that level.

00:58 Now, what's interesting here

01:01 is that DraftKings told us that they had

01:05 in-depth conversations with every regulator

01:09 that they wanted to go into that market

01:11 and that there was an understanding across the board.

01:15 Maryland was an interesting state for them to pick,

01:18 to want to launch with,

01:20 because Maryland was actually proactive

01:22 in telling PrizePicks and Underdogs of the world

01:26 that they could not operate those parlay products

01:31 in Maryland.

01:32 It happened right before they launched online sports betting.

01:34 And they said, look, we simply don't want this to compete

01:37 with the sports betting product

01:39 that we're about to roll out.

01:41 So I was surprised for a couple of reasons.

01:43 One, that DraftKings would try to launch there

01:45 and two, that Maryland said it was okay.

01:48 It turns out that it actually wasn't okay.

01:50 Once they saw the product and how it looked

01:53 and how it worked and how it operated,

01:55 they said, no, this is too close to sports betting

01:59 and we're not gonna have it.

02:01 And it's a larger issue that's happening

02:03 around the country, Greg,

02:04 and it's honestly gonna be one of the biggest stories

02:06 of this year to find out which states

02:10 are going to allow this kind of Daily Fantasy Sport Contest

02:14 to continue and which states are not.

02:16 We're already getting bans in states

02:18 like Michigan and New York.

02:20 We just got a Virginia Attorney General opinion

02:23 that it looks an awful lot like sports betting.

02:25 So this is something that we're gonna keep an eye on,

02:28 but it's really interesting that DraftKings said,

02:32 hey, whatever, we can launch that too.

02:34 Because when you think about it,

02:35 when you look at the states that they went live in,

02:37 they're live in California, they're live in Georgia,

02:40 they're live in Oklahoma, they're live in South Carolina.

02:44 Well, what do the states have in common, Greg?

02:46 No sports betting.

02:48 So they don't wanna be right out in the cold

02:50 when these DFS players in those states,

02:55 they, let's face it, they want to be doing more

02:59 of a sports betting-like contest.

03:02 And so if these other companies are going to offer that,

03:05 that's gonna cut down on DraftKings' market share.

03:07 And then whenever those states eventually

03:09 do legalize sports betting,

03:12 they're not gonna have as robust of a customer pipeline.

03:14 So they had to do something.

03:16 And it was clear that this was something

03:18 that made shareholders happy.

03:20 And it was the right move.

03:23 They were called a little hypocritical for doing it,

03:26 but I don't know that you can necessarily

03:29 be hypocritical in business

03:30 when it just comes down to making money, Greg.

03:33 So we're keeping an eye on this.

03:35 We want to see which other states

03:38 are gonna take issue with this,

03:41 maybe what other states are not letting DraftKings in.

03:44 But the fact that DraftKings has launched

03:46 their own product like this now,

03:49 it is bringing a bigger spotlight to the issue for sure.

03:52 (upbeat music)

03:55 [MUSIC]

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