From First Bet
to Active Bettor.
Exploring how early social participation may influence continued engagement among new sports bettors.
of bettors placed their first bet with a friend.
The Drop-Off Problem.
DraftKings has publicly identified customer engagement, retention, and customer experience as important drivers of long-term growth.
This project explores one potential behavioral factor that may influence continued participation during the earliest stages of the betting journey.
What We Learned.
Three patterns surfaced across an original survey of new and casual sports bettors.
Placed their first bet with a friend.
Received guidance from another person during their first betting experience.
Selected group betting as the feature most likely to increase continued participation.
The strongest signal was not a preference for social features.
It was the role other people played during the earliest betting experiences.
Source — Survey of 20 sports bettors conducted for this project.
A Pattern Emerged.
Sports betting is rarely introduced alone.
Most participants described early betting experiences that involved guidance, encouragement, or participation from others.
The first bet is often a shared experience.
Continued participation may become more independent over time.
Guidance, participation, and encouragement are often present when betting begins. They may become less visible as users continue on their own.
The Opportunity.
Research suggests social participation may be particularly influential during the earliest stages of the betting journey.
Yet many of the experiences that support participation happen after users begin navigating the platform independently.
The opportunity is helping new bettors reach meaningful participation sooner.
DraftKings Social already exists.
- ✓ Feed
- ✓ Betting Groups
- ✓ Group Parlays
- ✓ Profiles
- ✓ Following Bettors
- ✓ Notifications
- ✓ Community Picks
- ✓ Shared Parlays
DraftKings Social includes feeds, groups, profiles, community picks, and group parlays.
Rookie Mode.
A FIRST-TIME BETTOR ACTIVATION PROGRAM
Rookie Mode is designed to help first-time bettors build their first connections inside DraftKings Social and reach meaningful participation faster.
The goal is not to create a new community product.
The goal is to accelerate the path to participation with experiences that already exist at the moment they are most likely to influence confidence, habit formation, and continued engagement.
First-Time Bettor Activation Journey.
Rookie Mode Activation
DraftKings Social Discovery
Community Participation
Sustained Engagement
Rookie Mode in Action.
Five key touchpoints demonstrating how Rookie Mode helps first-time bettors build connections and reach meaningful participation within DraftKings Social.
Rookie Mode.
Earlier Activation, Increased Engagement.
This project does not assume that social participation guarantees retention.
Instead, it explores whether accelerating social activation can increase the likelihood that first-time bettors become active participants within the DraftKings ecosystem.
The faster users experience value through social participation, the more likely they are to continue engaging with the platform.
People rarely start betting alone.
Survey findings suggest that guidance and participation often shape early betting experiences.
DraftKings has already built the infrastructure that supports those behaviors.
The opportunity is helping more new bettors experience that value sooner.