The Progressive Parlays are set to share many characteristics with Same Game Parlays, a similar multi-stage betting product that has become increasingly popular with US sports bettors.
Traditionally, these parlays have required all legs of the bet to win to be paid out. The crucial difference with Progressive Parlays is that only a partial victory can still result in a payout.
Conversely, the increased number of potential legs means that players have the possibility of receiving a larger pay outs in the event that all picks go their way.
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said: “We’re excited about our Progressive Parlay offering and its potential to generate higher parlay mix and leg count, and thus higher hold percentage, as well as being a great win with customers who will be able to win money on their parlays even if they don’t hit every leg of their bet.
“If you love parlays, but you don’t like the all or nothing nature of it and you’d like to be able to have some other options, this allows you to win if you don’t hit every single leg,” he added.
DraftKings said the new feature will allow players to create bets consisting of between three and 12 legs or selections.
DraftKings filed a trademark for Progressive Parlays two weeks ago.
Best form of flattery
The company described itself as the first major US sportsbook operator to offer the feature. However, some commentators have pointed out that it shares similarities with PrizePicks’ ‘flex plays’ feature.DraftKings alluded to this in its investor presentation, highlighting one of the feature’s selling points is that this version counts as “regulated as sports betting”.
The operator has previously alluded to certain games being offered by DFS or pick’em competitors, in particular PrizePicks and UnderDog, as being effectively unregulated or illegal sports betting.
The investor day comes during a period of smooth sailing for DraftKings, having posted several good news updates only recently.
These include a rising GGR market share in the US, a stock up 54% over the past six months and a full-year guidance raise in the face of higher than expected revenues.
Major investors cash in
Famed investor Cathie Wood and her Ark Invest investment management firm has opted to continue its pattern of selling DraftKings stock as it continues to climb to record highs.
The fund sold 274,849 shares of stock for a closing price of $35.53, amounting to $9.8m. This is in addition to the $30.5m worth of shares already sold this month.
Previously, Ark unloaded $14.1m of DraftKings stock in October and $48.4m in September.
The investment fund however continues to be among the largest shareholders of the US sports betting operator.
