G2E: Two industry giants chat about sports betting, responsible gambling

The contrast between Jason Robins, the co-founder and CEO of DraftKings, and Circa Resort and Casino Owner and CEO Derek Stevens couldn’t be more striking.

During the G2E education session “View from the Top: Perspectives from Top U.S. Gaming Leaders,” Robins seemed like the cool analytical genius you wouldn’t want to face at a poker table. Stevens, on the other hand, came off like the guy at the local bar who’d buy you a drink, loan you $20, and not expect to be paid back.

Both approaches have worked and in conversation Wednesday with sports journalist Rachel Nichols, the contrasts in how they came to be successful were apparent.

Robins spoke of being “really excited” about the impending NBA season and the connection bettors can make with players, noting, “We have best player props in the industry.”

Stevens mentioned that he had an appointment at noon to watch his hometown Detroit Tigers play the Cleveland Guardians. And of Wednesday morning’s implosion of the Tropicana? Stevens said that he had recently visited the site, and maybe “it needed to be blown up. It’s good to see Vegas trying to do new things,” he said, before adding some personal memories.

“I became accustomed to coming to Las Vegas 30 years ago for both business and pleasure,” Stevens said. “I was always wowed by walking into the Las Vegas Hilton and the sportsbooks. I remember the emotion — oh my gosh, this is the greatest place on Earth. I came for big fights or the opening of the NFL or the World Series. And when we had the opportunity to design something from scratch at the Circa, I wanted to try and recreate some of these wow moments.”

Robins’s conversation with Nichols touched on the popularity of the WNBA and how personalities such as the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark have increased its popularity and betting on games. He also emphasized DraftKings’s commitment to promoting responsible-gaming initiatives. “This is really about feeling the responsibility to build the industry in the right way and to do our part to actually validate why it is so important to legalize and regulate this industry in the first place.

“This is something every person in the company needs to help with every day,” Robins added. “Everything you do, whether it’s working with partners, customers, no matter what it is, this needs be something you’re thinking about, where and how it makes sense to infuse it.”

Nichols asked Stevens about the proliferation of the sweepstakes gaming industry and how it affects his business. Stevens wouldn’t go as far as calling it a threat, but said that sweepstakes operators have clearly found a loophole. “Let’s not kid ourselves, they’re running sportsbooks. That’s what it is. So this is going to evolve, probably sooner than later.”

Stevens noted there had been some legislation to combat sweepstakes operators. “For those of you who don’t know, all the legal guys have to pay .25 percent on every wager. That doesn’t seem like much, but it adds up.” He added that the Federal Sports Excise Tax is incorrectly termed, like how the Patagonian toothfish was rebranded as seabass. “It should be called the Illegal Bookmaker Preservation Tax,” he said.

Rege Behe is lead contributor to CDC Gaming. He can be reached at rbehe@cdcgaming.com. Please follow @RegeBehe_exPTR on Twitter.