The Charles Schwab Challenge got underway yesterday and the golf tournament has proven to be a smashing success all the way around. Not only are sports fans happy to see activity resuming, but sports gambling fans are thrilled, as well. While major sports leagues like the NBA and the NHL, among others, are still at least a month away from getting back into action, pro golfers in the PGA are returning to the greens and sports bettors are returning to their sportsbooks. There has been no shortage of action, and DraftKings has taken control. The major sportsbook announced that, on the first day of the tournament, it had seen more wagers than it ever saw with any other four-round event.
Casino.org got an email from the communications director for DraftKings, Stephen Miraglia, explaining that the company has been pleasantly surprised by the action it witnessed yesterday, the first day of the Charles Schwab Challenge. He states, “The Charles Schwab Challenge became our most bet golf tournament ever today before round one had been completed. Live money since first tee time this morning is already at 30% of pre-match wagering totals. To put that number in perspective, the last true golf tournament was the Arnold Palmer Invitation – this tournament has already done more in live wagering after one day than the Arnold Palmer did over four days.”
Golf was added to the DraftKings sports roster just two years ago and has consistently picked up more support as it grows. Last month’s “The Match: Champions for Charity” event in Florida, which saw Tiger Woods and Peyton Manning triumph over Phil Mickelson and Tom Brady, had been the most-active golf event in terms of wagers. However, the current event, which runs through Sunday, could set a new record for wagers.
DraftKings recently went public, and the sportsbook has seen nothing but substantial growth and responses since then. It has already been singled out by a handful of financial analysts, and investment bank Oppenheimer wasn’t going to miss out on the excitement. It started covering the company yesterday, giving it an “outperform” rating with a $48 price target – the current price is $36.28, down from the $40.64 it saw a week ago.
With action now in nine states in the U.S., and more on the way, DraftKings is raising the bar for nationwide sportsbooks. Oppenheimer expects much greater results are on the way and explains, “As more states legalize sports gambling, we believe competencies in product development and customer acquisition that DKNG utilized to become the DFS market leader (over 60% share) will allow the company to be a critical player in accelerating the shift in U.S. sports betting from ~$150B wagered illegally/offshore to licensed domestic operators.”
DraftKings has watched as its price has doubled since the company went public. This isn’t abnormal for a lot of companies once they introduce an initial public offering, but the overall confidence given to the sports gambling market across the U.S. has most analysts expecting DraftKings to be able to maintain its growth well into the future. Oppenheimer agrees, adding, “While a premium valuation and high cash flow burn likely create above-average volatility near term, we emphasize the long-term nature of our rating.”
