US DAILY FANTASY sports giant DraftKings – one half of a duopoly that dominate the fast-growing industry – has said that it plans to launch its gaming service in Ireland over the coming months.
The Boston-headquartered company’s chief international officer, Jeffrey Haas, confirmed to Fora that the site is expecting to roll out its gaming service before the end of the year, although a launch date has not been set.
However he said it was unlikely DraftKings would open an office in the Republic to support the roll-out in the immediate future.
“Let’s see how our (Irish) business becomes established and grows over time,” Haas said.
He also declined to reveal how much money the company plans to invest in its Irish launch, saying, “It’s early days.”
Founded in 2012, DraftKings is a gaming website and app that lets users assume the role of a virtual sports manager during real-life tournaments.
While players have the ability to win cash prizes, DraftKings has been at pains to distinguish itself from traditional betting and gambling companies.
The firm claims to have seven million registered users worldwide and is currently available in North America, the UK, Germany and Malta, where it holds a licence that allows it to trade in other EU countries.
Betting tax submission
DraftKings also recently made a submission to the Department of Finance, which is conducting a review of Irish betting taxes.
In the letter – penned by Haas – the company suggested a 4% to 5% tax on net revenues generated by ‘online skill games’ operators like DraftKings. It asked the government to consider daily fantasy sports as unique from gambling or sports betting.
When asked why the company was interested in Ireland, Haas told Fora that there is a demand for a similar gaming service here.
“Irish sports fans are incredibly passionate and they make themselves known wherever they are found,” he said.
“I’ve seen that attending a lot of Liverpool matches at Anfield Stadium. I know Liverpool FC is very popular in Ireland and we have a great partnership with Liverpool.
“If you do a search on Twitter for ‘DraftKings’ and ‘Ireland’, you will see dozens of request from players asking when we’re coming. There’s clearly pent-up demand that already exists.”
Partnership deals
He said the company is currently looking to cut deals with media and technology firms in the Republic that would be interested in partnering with DraftKings on its marketing and sponsorship initiatives.
“We’re looking for a range of companies who may have existing databases of (potential) Irish players that would be interested in helping inform them about DraftKings,” Haas said.
He declined to reveal what companies DraftKings has already been in talks with but did say that some existing deals will likely be extended to the Irish market.
The company has already become an ‘official’ partner of the likes of Nascar and the National Football League in America.
“In the United Kingdom, we work very closely with Liverpool Football Club,” Haas said. “That’s a global partnership and it will extend into Ireland for sure.”
Abandoned merger
Paid-for daily fantasy sports is a fast-growing gaming category in the US and has quickly become a multimillion-dollar industry. DraftKings revenues alone swelled from $3 million in 2013 to $105 million in 2015, according to Forbes magazine.
The American market is currently dominated by rivals DraftKings and FanDuel, which recently called off a merger.
The US Federal Trade Commission had opposed the deal because it would have given the consolidated company a 90% stake in the daily paid fantasy sports market in the States.
Online daily sports is a relatively new industry in Ireland. However, it’s worth noting that the news of DraftKings’ launch in Ireland comes shortly after Paddy Power-Betfair acquired US-based fantasy sports startup Draft for $19 million.
DraftKings has already met with government officials here, who Haas described as “very open-minded and patient”.
“They’re quite fair and open in discussion so far,” he said. “What we’re doing is different to what exists there today.
“There’s no relevant, local regulation that covers our activities. So, we wanted to speak with Irish Revenue in respect to their tax review to explain our position and how we intend to enter into the market.”
Written by Conor McMahon and posted on Fora.ie
Spot on.
I share the undercooked concern. Choose close to full team, rest anyone with a niggle or still jaded from last weeks heat. Warm ups are over, time to build momentum.
Murray; first of all, I have really enjoyed the podcasts so far from France, so thank you for that.
My amateur opinion is that they should go full strength and treat the SA game like a final. Even if it’s a narrow loss, they’ll know that they’re close to the standard required to win the competition. If they win, then the belief will become huge. You have to bear in mind that Ireland have had some less good performances last Autumn and in the 6N, but they’re kept winning and so surely they have that winning mindset. This is pretty rare and the winning run is worth fighting for.
One question for you would be about training. I’d be happy if they were having a few savage full contact sessions, as these may be tougher than a match against a tier 2 nation, but the squad size is restricted so this may not be possible. Would this be another argument for going full strength against Tonga? I’d really like to see the line out attack come back and to deny Tonga from scoring a try.
Maybe the answer to this in 4 years is to line up top opposition in friendlies leading into the world cup. I get they need to get the A team up to 100% preperation firing for the SA game but at the expense of picking up injuries again the minnows before then is a risky plan…
@Stuart: You are probably right… but I think the IRFU found it difficult to line up a game against other tier 1 nations. The England game was probably lined up from 4 years ago. Maybe they left it too late to arrange the others and it wouldn’t be extraordinary to think that they were disorganised or complacent.
@Stuart: apparently other top tier nations turned down playing against Ireland in the summer internationals. Not sure if they left it too late or if other teams felt it would show their hand too much.
In all likelihood yourself and the others on media duties are aware of the team (as normal) but cannot spell it out BUT you’re trying to slowly row your way back from the, way off, potential team you posted a few days ago…. Nice try. It’ll be about 12 from first 15 and Big Joe may be on his way to being first 15 with anyone carrying minor niggle sitting it out. Murray knew a few weeks ago Big Joe would get his shot
Are we not finding excuses to talk ourselves into the very same situation that killed us in previous world cups – ie no trust in the wider squad and thereby overloading the core group? What you are saying, Murray, is that should Ireland win the WC, they would play basically the same team for 6 matches in a row (with only minor alterations from the remaining 7th game). That’s a tough message to the squad and it does not fit the McCloskey inclusion.
@John Morris: nah, I dont think so. We played a weakened team vs Japan 4 yrs ago and look what happened. Plus we play our best team in 6 nations each game for most part with slight adjustments for Italy. Look at what southern hemisphere do – play their strongest team pretty much for rugby championship and some warm ups. And they win every world cup except 1. I think Murray’s article is very well put together and I would agree full strength is required. Its not equal game time for all, go games style. These are fully grown men playing professional sport so get on with it. They;; be called upon if injury strikes. Thats the idea of a squad of grown men
Gonna be an interesting call, they can probably win with a 2nd string side but agree we should put out close to our strongest . Only player I would definitely look to leave out from the 23 is Porter and keep him fresh for SA. We can bring in the likes of Baird , Henderson, Henshaw , McCloskey and Byrne (sub) and steam roll Tonga
@Owen ODonoghue: Spot on about Porter. He is the one player we cannot afford to lose to injury. Playing against SA without him would be scary.
@Owen ODonoghue: Getting hard to see Byrne in the mix, no doubt he’ll be thereabouts for this game tho.
We’re at risk of Eddie O’Sullivan 2007 territory here by playing the same team every weekend. Given the likely hard slog against Scotland and every weekend thereafter they need to rotate this weekend