DraftKings Looks to Launch Sports Betting-centric Bars in Detroit and Nashville

DraftKings has published a news release detailing plans for upscale sports bars in both the Detroit and Nashville areas. The sports betting platform has entered a partnership with Sports & Social, a company that specializes in sport-centered entertainment venus. Through this collaboration, DraftKings is hoping to unveil top-of-the-line venues where bettors can enjoy first-class dining, drinks, entertainment, and sports betting, all in one place.

Sports & Social currently run many high-profile venues, including ones near Truist Park, Ballpark Village, Texas Live!, and many more. The focus on combining entertainment with gambling, including sports gambling, is there, and this company clearly knows what they are doing.

In the release, the chief business officer of DraftKings, Ezra Kucharz, said, “By aligning with one of the fastest-growing entertainment concepts in the country, we now have the opportunity to bring our world-class products to life by offering engaging, interactive, and fan-first destinations to skin-in-the-game customers.”

Location Choices

It is interesting that DraftKings has chosen Detroit and Nashville as neither of these bars will offer retail sports betting. Instead, the bars will most likely offer interactive promotional odds or something along those lines that one could use on their DraftKings application. The wagers will still have to be placed from a mobile device.

This is most likely an attempt to mimic a retail sports betting experience without actually having retail sports betting. The fact that DraftKings has partnered with such a prestigious and experienced company in the sector shows that the company is serious about this idea. Having a place for bettors to enjoy and hang out can only be beneficial for DraftKings’ business. Of course, at these locations, there will be no way to force patrons to use DraftKings over other mobile sports betting applications. Instead, they could only entice bettors with promotional offers.

Existing DraftKings Retail Experiences

DraftKings does have quite a few retail sportsbooks throughout the United States. However, in New Hampshire, where the sportsbook has a monopoly on sports wagering, you can find quite a few venues that seem to offer a similar experience to that of what was talked about in the news release. These locations offer food, drinks, games, and more with everything surrounding sports betting. The only difference there is that mobile wagers are offered on top of retail sports betting. In Detroit and Nashville, there will only be mobile wagering available.

Future DraftKings Locations

DraftKings will most likely be entering Arizona, Maryland, Louisiana, and Connecticut, this Fall. With all of the new states, we could see this idea expanded upon to give DraftKings the upper edge in market share in these new states. Not to mention that DraftKings could be entering a new country with Canadian single-game sports betting becoming legal. This is another new potential market that DraftKings may want to test out this idea.

Only time will tell if this plan pays off, but it is not surprising at all to see sportsbooks, like DraftKings, come up with new innovative ideas to increase revenue and market share, especially in ultra-competitive states like Michigan and Tennessee.