Jackpocket Acquired by DraftKings For Nearly $1 Billion

With its roots tracing back to its daily fantasy sports contests in the early 2010s, DraftKings launched an online sportsbook in New Jersey and NJ online casino. Now, it’s added the lottery to its gaming portfolio, acquiring Jackpocket, a third-party lottery courier, for $750 million. 

DraftKings Entering U.S. Digital Lottery

“We are very excited to enter the rapidly growing U.S. digital lottery vertical with our acquisition of Jackpocket,” said Jason Robins, Co-founder and CEO of DraftKings. “This transaction will create significant value for DraftKings not only by giving our customers another differentiated product to enjoy but also by improving our overall marketing efficiency similar to how our daily fantasy sports database created an advantage for DraftKings in OSB and iGaming.”

“Together with DraftKings, we will be able to bring tremendous value to our customer base as we advance our mission to create a more convenient, fun, and responsible way to take part in the lottery,” said Peter Sullivan, CEO of Jackpocket. “DraftKings’ broad footprint and exceptional mobile products present an opportunity to meaningfully expand the digital lottery vertical, and we could not be more excited to come together with DraftKings.”

New Jersey residents are familiar with Jackpocket NJ. On there, players can purchase tickets for games such as Mega Millions and Powerball without leaving their homes to visit a certified New Jersey Lottery retailer. 

“Together with DraftKings,” Jackpocket CEO Peter Sullivan said, “we will be able to bring tremendous value to our customer base as we advance our mission to create a more convenient, fun, and responsible way to take part in the lottery.”

DraftKings recently held an earnings call where Robins echoed the sentiment of the lottery market’s audience size. According to the New Jersey Lottery, Their Fiscal Year 2023 saw sales reach $3.72 billion, the highest in its history. 

Robins also noted that Jackpocket will keep its branding and app. 

“I think they’ve built a strong audience and a good brand, and I think that we want to keep it,” Robins said, “but obviously we’re going to explore opportunities to integrate ecosystems, have all products available across all brands, just like we do with Golden Nugget. And I think, you know, Jackpocket has a casino that they – so there’s a lot to do there, I think, with their brand.”

More About Jackpocket NJ

Jackpocket went live in New Jersey in February 2024, with a soft launch in November 2023 with over 200 options available. Now, DraftKings is looking toward the rest of the United States with Jackpocket. 

 “It’ll grow the lottery market, bring new customers in,” Robins said. “So, I think it’s a great opportunity to get a product, you know, potentially in the vast majority of US states.”