DraftKings has finally completed its prolonged takeover of GNOG for an estimated $1.56 billion. Thanks to its finalised merger with GNOG, DraftKings is now perhaps the biggest iGaming brand in the North American online casino gaming market. DraftKings recently announced that it had finalised its acquisition of Golden Nugget Online Gaming. Now that the acquisition process has been finalised, DraftKings has more opportunities than ever to fulfil its plans for expansion while also cutting operational costs severely.
According to DraftKings’ chairman and CEO Jason Robins, DraftKings will henceforth save millions in several departments and operations including advertising, vendor services, staff, and more. With this collaboration, DraftKings online casino will also effectively expand its offerings, which will include GNOG’s live dealer games moving forward.
GNOG was the first-ever mobile app to offer gamblers a live dealer studio thus allowing punters to interact with other gamblers and dealers in a live setting. GNOG launched the country’s very first online live dealer platform in August 2016 with just a little under 300 games. Since its debut in 2016, GNOG’s live dealer games platform has set the standard for other operators to follow and will help DraftKings plan for domination in the iGaming market.
The GNOG Acquisition will, among many other benefits, allow the DraftKings brand to leverage GNOG’s already respected name and presence in the country’s iGaming market. This acquisition will allow DraftKings to broaden its reach into newer customer segments while enhancing the combined iGaming products and technological capabilities of the 2 brands.
According to DraftKings CEO, this finalised acquisition will give the brand synergies across its operations. The CEO anticipated that this finalised acquisition will supply meaningful revenue uplift by utilising the brand’s data-driven marketing capabilities and dual branding iGaming strategies.
DraftKings also expects to see an improvement in its gross margin development opportunities, and its cost savings across external marketing, as well as SG&A. This is regarded as one of the biggest alliances in the digital sport, entertainment, and iGaming sector. With the acquisition confirmed, DraftKings will now integrate GNOG’s staff across its business.
This means that even essential members of staff, such as Thomas Winter will henceforth be absorbed into Draftkings’ process. Thomas Winter was the former President of GNOG. However, under this partnership, the ex-president of GNOG will transition into the role of General Manager of iGaming in North America.
What we cover
What specifically are the benefits of this acquisition?
According to DraftKings officials, the acquisition will deliver significant benefits to the brand including anticipated synergies of approximately $300 million upon maturity. The brand is also expected to deploy a multi-brand tactic that is aimed at enhancing cross-selling opportunities while also boosting revenue growth. In addition to these benefits, DraftKings also expects to save costs on multiple channels including advertising and marketing.
This acquisition will also effectively eliminate platform costs by migrating GNOG’s current technology into DraftKings’ in-house platform. This collaboration will also cut down General and Administrative expenses, which refer to the day-to-day costs all businesses must pay to operate. These general and administrative expenses will include things such as rent, utilities, salaries, and more.
In addition to all these benefits, DraftKings and its new partner Fertitta Entertainment are also anticipating the rebrand of a few existing and future physical sportsbook locations. This means that several sportsbooks will henceforth be rebranded into DraftKings sportsbooks. With the acquisition, both brands will also combine revenues while consequently boosting the revenue as a result of cross-promotion opportunities.
Now that GNOG is part of DraftKings, the customer base is also expected to grow considerably since DraftKings will now have access to GNOG’s iGaming customers. Additional revenue synergies will also include possible tech and game expansion, including GNOG’s popular liver dealer product.
Moving forward, DraftKings will bring GNOG onto its award-winning in-house tech, which will help to lower costs by reducing GNOG’s 3rd party platform costs and expenses. Once everything has been integrated fully, GNOG and DraftKings’ customers will use DraftKings technology while also gaining access to expanded product offerings and features including the addition of new proprietary casino games, as well as experiencing improved customer satisfaction overall.
New Jersey gamblers stand to benefit the most from this acquisition
When DraftKings announced its takeover of GNOG in August last year, GNOG CEO Tilman Fertitta stated that the acquisition would create an alliance unlike any other in the iGaming sector- and he was right. Now that the acquisition has been finalised, DraftKings and GNOG customers will seamlessly switch back and forth between the sportsbooks and physical casinos.
The DraftKings Casino app, which is accessible to gamblers in New Jersey is also going to experience a shit as a result of this acquisition. At present, customers of DraftKings Casino only have about 400 slots to choose from. With GNOG’s platform getting integrated into DraftKings’s platform, online slot customers in New Jersey will enjoy more variety than ever before.
At present, GNOG’s online casino is the most sought-after platform in the iGaming market. GNOG and DraftKings rivals such as FanDuel will have a much harder time overtaking the newly formed DraftKings brand. With both GNOG and DraftKings well established, the 2 have formed a formidable brand and the strongest possible combination in the market.
Although there have been rumours of a DraftKings Sportsbook opening at Golden Nugget, neither GNOG nor DraftKings have confirmed that this will happen. For now, punters in New Jersey will have to sit back and wait to observe the real impact of this acquisition.
Final Thoughts
Nine months after DraftKings announced that it would be acquiring Golden Nugget Online, the deal has been finalised. GNOG may have started as a brick-and-mortar casino operation in 1949.
However, since its debut all those years ago, the GNOG brand has risen to become one of the most successful online gambling operators in the world with not just a live casino on offer, but also a fully integrated modern sportsbook to boot. Now that DraftKings has purchased GNOG’s online assets, DraftKings has now become the most dominant online gambling operator in the North American market.
