{"id":326844,"date":"2024-08-01T17:10:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-01T22:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=326844"},"modified":"2024-08-02T09:50:35","modified_gmt":"2024-08-02T14:50:35","slug":"draftkings-unveils-1b-buyback-bettor-surcharge-in-4-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-unveils-1b-buyback-bettor-surcharge-in-4-states\/","title":{"rendered":"DraftKings Unveils $1B Buyback, Bettor Surcharge in High-Tax States"},"content":{"rendered":"

DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG) told investors Thursday that it could repurchase up to $1 billion of its shares and that it will implement a surcharge on bettors in several states with high sports wagering taxes.<\/p>\n

\"DraftKings
A DraftKings billboard appears at Times Square in New York City. The company announced a surcharge on bettors in four states and a $1 billion buyback plan. (Image: NASDAQ)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Boston-based gaming company said the surcharge will be applied in states that have elevated sports wagering levies and multiple operators. Illinois, which recently implemented<\/a> a graduated sports betting tax scheme that raised rates on the largest operators there, is one of the four states in which DraftKings will apply the surcharge. New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont are the other three.<\/p>\n

We plan to implement a gaming tax surcharge in high tax states that have multiple mobile sports betting operators on January 1, 2025 which could drive adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) upside on an annual basis,\u201d said CEO Jason Robins in a statement.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

DraftKings forecast 2025 EBITDA of $900 million to $1 billion — a forecast that does not include the potential benefit from the bettor tax.<\/p>\n

DraftKings Surcharge Plan Met with Derision<\/h2>\n

In its investor presentation, the gaming company noted the surcharge will only be applied to winning wagers and it will be treated as a separate transaction when winning bets are paid. DraftKings added that the tax will be made clear to clients as it will appear on bet slips.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe surcharge will be fairly nominal to the customer. In Illinois, for example, it will amount to a low to mid-single digit percentage of the Net Winnings a customer would previously have received,\u201d wrote Robins and CFO Alan Ellingson in a letter to shareholders.<\/p>\n

\n

The news set off a firestorm of criticism on \u201cSports Betting X (formerly Twitter)\u201d with some users saying the plan is an attempt by DraftKings to mitigate its tax exposure on the back of clients<\/a>. Other critics believe the surcharge scheme could prompt current DraftKings bettors to take their business elsewhere.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Some even went so far as to say black market bookies in New York are cheering the news. As of Thursday, DraftKings is the first major online sportsbook operator to announce such a surcharge.<\/p>\n

Buyback Telegraphed, but Still Good News<\/h2>\n

While the surcharge commanded plenty of attention following DraftKings\u2019 second-quarter earnings report, the $1 billion buyback wasn\u2019t overlooked. Though analysts had increasingly telegraphed some form of shareholder rewards from the company was in the offing, it\u2019s worth noting this is the first share repurchase plan in DraftKings\u2019 four-plus years as a public firm.<\/p>\n

\n

Companies aren’t legally bound to repurchase the entire dollar amount announced to investors, but if $1 billion of the stock is bought back, it could foster confidence among shareholders, some of whom have been critical of DraftKings\u2019 insiders being frequent sellers<\/a> of the stock.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

In the earnings statement, Ellingson said the gaming company is excited about its free cash flow trajectory. As of the end of the second quarter, DraftKings had cash and cash equivalents of $815.88 million. Total liabilities stood at $2.91 billion, down from $3.10 billion at the end of last year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DraftKings (NASDAQ: DKNG) told investors Thursday that it could repurchase up to $1 billion of its shares and that it will implement a surcharge on bettors in several states with high sports wagering taxes. The Boston-based gaming company said the surcharge will be applied in states that have elevated sports wagering levies and multiple operators. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":261549,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,86432,86430,86438,13592,1074],"tags":[81903,86697,86455,86457,81895,80968],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDraftKings Unveils $1B Buyback, Bettor Surcharge in 4 States<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"DraftKings Unveils $1B Buyback, Bettor Surcharge in 4 States.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-unveils-1b-buyback-bettor-surcharge-in-4-states\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DraftKings Unveils $1B Buyback, Bettor Surcharge in 4 States\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"DraftKings Unveils $1B Buyback, Bettor Surcharge in 4 States.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-unveils-1b-buyback-bettor-surcharge-in-4-states\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-01T22:10:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-02T14:50:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/mo_042420002.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1012\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"675\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@etfgodfather\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-unveils-1b-buyback-bettor-surcharge-in-4-states\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-unveils-1b-buyback-bettor-surcharge-in-4-states\/\",\"name\":\"DraftKings Unveils $1B Buyback, Bettor Surcharge in 4 States\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-unveils-1b-buyback-bettor-surcharge-in-4-states\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-unveils-1b-buyback-bettor-surcharge-in-4-states\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/mo_042420002.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-01T22:10:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-02T14:50:35+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"DraftKings Unveils $1B Buyback, Bettor Surcharge in 4 States.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-unveils-1b-buyback-bettor-surcharge-in-4-states\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-unveils-1b-buyback-bettor-surcharge-in-4-states\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-unveils-1b-buyback-bettor-surcharge-in-4-states\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/mo_042420002.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/mo_042420002.jpeg\",\"width\":1012,\"height\":675,\"caption\":\"A DraftKings billboard appears at Times Square in New York City. Analysts remain bullish on the stock and view football season as a catalyst. (Image: NASDAQ)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-unveils-1b-buyback-bettor-surcharge-in-4-states\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Financial\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/financial\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"DraftKings Unveils $1B Buyback, Bettor Surcharge in High-Tax States\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\",\"name\":\"Todd Shriber\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Todd Shriber\"},\"description\":\"Todd Shriber is a senior news reporter covering gaming financials, casino business, stocks, and mergers and acquisitions for Casino.org. Todd got his start in financial markets as a reporter with Bloomberg News. Later, he became a trader at a Southern California-based long\/short hedge fund, where he specialized in the trading sector and international ETFs leading up to and during the financial crisis. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Currently, Todd analyzes, researches, and writes on ETFs for various web-based publications and financial services firms. Shriber has been featured and quoted in Barron's, CNBC.com, and The Wall Street Journal. His work can also be found on Benzinga, ETF Daily News, ETF Trends, MarketWatch, Fox Business, and Nasdaq.com. He currently resides in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golf and taking his black lab to the dog park. He's also an avid sports fan and likes to wager on college football and the NBA. You can also find him at the three-card poker and roulette table, even though he knows better. Contact Todd at todd.shriber@casino.org.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/muckrack.com\/todd-shriber\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/toddshriber\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/etfgodfather\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/todd-shriber\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"DraftKings Unveils $1B Buyback, Bettor Surcharge in 4 States","description":"DraftKings Unveils $1B Buyback, Bettor Surcharge in 4 States.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-unveils-1b-buyback-bettor-surcharge-in-4-states\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"DraftKings Unveils $1B Buyback, Bettor Surcharge in 4 States","og_description":"DraftKings Unveils $1B Buyback, Bettor Surcharge in 4 States.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-unveils-1b-buyback-bettor-surcharge-in-4-states\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2024-08-01T22:10:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-08-02T14:50:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1012,"height":675,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/mo_042420002.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Todd Shriber","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@etfgodfather","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Todd Shriber","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-unveils-1b-buyback-bettor-surcharge-in-4-states\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-unveils-1b-buyback-bettor-surcharge-in-4-states\/","name":"DraftKings Unveils $1B Buyback, Bettor Surcharge in 4 States","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-unveils-1b-buyback-bettor-surcharge-in-4-states\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-unveils-1b-buyback-bettor-surcharge-in-4-states\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/mo_042420002.jpeg","datePublished":"2024-08-01T22:10:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-08-02T14:50:35+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85"},"description":"DraftKings Unveils $1B Buyback, Bettor Surcharge in 4 States.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-unveils-1b-buyback-bettor-surcharge-in-4-states\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-unveils-1b-buyback-bettor-surcharge-in-4-states\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-unveils-1b-buyback-bettor-surcharge-in-4-states\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/mo_042420002.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/mo_042420002.jpeg","width":1012,"height":675,"caption":"A DraftKings billboard appears at Times Square in New York City. Analysts remain bullish on the stock and view football season as a catalyst. (Image: NASDAQ)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-unveils-1b-buyback-bettor-surcharge-in-4-states\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Financial","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/financial\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"DraftKings Unveils $1B Buyback, Bettor Surcharge in High-Tax States"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85","name":"Todd Shriber","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-11-96x96.png","caption":"Todd Shriber"},"description":"Todd Shriber is a senior news reporter covering gaming financials, casino business, stocks, and mergers and acquisitions for Casino.org. Todd got his start in financial markets as a reporter with Bloomberg News. Later, he became a trader at a Southern California-based long\/short hedge fund, where he specialized in the trading sector and international ETFs leading up to and during the financial crisis. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Currently, Todd analyzes, researches, and writes on ETFs for various web-based publications and financial services firms. Shriber has been featured and quoted in Barron's, CNBC.com, and The Wall Street Journal. His work can also be found on Benzinga, ETF Daily News, ETF Trends, MarketWatch, Fox Business, and Nasdaq.com. He currently resides in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golf and taking his black lab to the dog park. He's also an avid sports fan and likes to wager on college football and the NBA. You can also find him at the three-card poker and roulette table, even though he knows better. Contact Todd at todd.shriber@casino.org.","sameAs":["https:\/\/muckrack.com\/todd-shriber","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/toddshriber\/","https:\/\/x.com\/etfgodfather"],"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/todd-shriber\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326844"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326844"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":326906,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326844\/revisions\/326906"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}