DraftKings

In 2012, Jason Robbins, Matt Kalish and Paul Liberman noticed sports fans bet constantly, not in casinos but in bars with friends. Fantasy sports had legitimised betting conversations. They built a platform for daily fantasy sports. You could enter a tournament for that day's games for $10 or $50, pick a line-up and compete for cash prizes. Daily fantasy operated in a legal grey zone. Sports betting was mostly illegal, but fantasy leagues had a court exemption for games of skill. Draft Kings leaned into this. The platform rewarded research, pattern recognition and strategic line-up construction. The pitch was that skill mattered. While regulators caught up, Draft Kings moved fast. Revenue exploded. Millions of players entered tournaments. The user economics worked regardless. A new player might deposit $20 and lose it. But Draft Kings made money from the rake, 10% of the prize pool.