DraftKings is approaching this NFL betting season differently than in years past.
Instead of focusing on competing with rivals, the company’s game plan for 2025 NFL betting is built around what it sees as its biggest edge: live betting. Everything from the app’s interface to promotions and social media has been reworked around what DraftKings internally refers to as the “narrative cycle.”
The goal: deliver a story-driven experience aligned with how sports unfold in real time. The reason: build around a “best-in-class” product that addresses one of Wall Street’s biggest industry concerns.
“In the past we might have felt like we were chasing competitive parity in certain spaces, we’ve made these big infrastructural investments to bring our own technology and modeling and content in house … the result is that now we have this notion of choice where … [it is] much more about where can we differentiate to win,” Chief Product Officer Corey Gottlieb told LSR.
DraftKings drives live betting handle
DraftKings grew live betting handle by 16% last quarter, helping it outperform peers in overall handle growth amid an industry slowdown.
Gottlieb said the company sees live betting as the single biggest driver of handle growth going forward, a key concern among investors as parlays and higher-margin bets have become more popular.
“It’s maybe the most important thing a really good sportsbook can do,” Gottlieb said.
Metrics suport NFL-timed push
With an industry-leading 90% uptime on core live markets, supported by its $195 million Simplebet acquisition late last year, DraftKings enters this NFL season with a live betting product it feels is finally ready for center stage.
DraftKings benefits from tighter control over risk and pricing, allowing it to keep markets open while competitors pull them down.
The company says it now offers 50% more live betting content than its nearest competitor. That’s key in an industry where even small lags can undermine user trust, open books to arbitrage, and hurt retention.
“All the metrics — the growth of the business, combined with improvement in performance – have gotten us to a place where we’re like, ‘wow, not only do we have a right to win in this space, but we are by far the best in this space, and so we need a megaphone for it,’” Gottlieb said.
Building around narrative cycle
On the merchandising side, DraftKings rebuilt its content management system so staff can tailor packaged live bets around real-time storylines, with analytics guiding those decisions.
Operators function like editors-in-chief, Gottlieb said, shaping what customers see based on trending storylines and data.
Gottlieb said the change was driven by beta testing that showed customers prefer curated bets around narratives instead of endless options that can overwhelm. He called it a powerful lesson for DraftKings, which long assumed “endless choice” was the goal. Research showed customers instead want the app to surface the five key storylines they already care about.
The app also rolled out Live Bet Tracking on iOS lock screens, allowing users to monitor wagers without opening the app.
DraftKings prioritizes social integration
DraftKings has tied its social strategy more tightly to live betting, with content and partner campaigns built around in-game narratives and parlay mix rather than straight bets.
“If we’re going to go out to the market with a value prop that we’re the best at something, we better be the best at that thing,” Gottlieb said.
While traditional rivals like FanDuel offer basic features like bet sharing and public ‘betting groups’, DraftKings’ in-app social platform with tailable bets, group play and real-time chat features as much more than a bolt-on.
Working towards it all year
Most of the work underpinning NFL launch was done earlier in the year, as DraftKings tested products across other sports.
CEO Jason Robins, speaking at the Bank of America Securities 2025 Gaming & Lodging Conference referred to NFL kickoff as “report card time” after months of testing.
“All the stuff we’ve been working on all summer and really all year to get ready for this time of year is all shipping, and we’re seeing how do customers like these products we’ve created. Are they engaging? Are they having the effects we want? And sometimes you hit and sometimes you miss. But this year, I feel better. I am more confident in the products that we released this year than I think I have ever been.”
