DraftKings has introduced a new paid service that allows subscribers to pay $20 per month to get access to unlimited “stepped up” boost tokens that can be used on parlay bets.
DraftKings+ offers users super-boosted odds for all same-game and multi-game parlays consisting of individual legs set at odds of no shorter than -500. Starting with a 10% profit boost for two-leg parlays, the increases grow as customers add bets to their parlay.
Sportico first broke the story on the product, some of its features and the fact it went live in New York this week. DraftKings’ website confirms the subscription will be available as a free trial for a month before subsequently costing $20 per month. It also notes that the maximum eligible bet amount will be $25 and the biggest boost available will be a 100% enhancement for 11-leg parlays.
For now, DraftKings+ is available only to “select customers” based in the state of New York. The company did not explicitly clarify which bettors qualify for a subscription, beyond noting that they must be at least 21 years old, physically located in New York with a valid DraftKings sportsbook account and must not be involuntarily or voluntarily excluded from gaming.
“Only individuals who directly receive from DraftKings an offer to subscribe to the Service are eligible to subscribe to the Service,” adds the company’s terms and conditions for the subscription. SBC Americas reached out to the company seeking more information but no further details were given.
The company said in a statement that the subscription offers “an enhanced fan experience, creating more excitement and value to our extensive parlay offering.”
A harbinger of things to come or another idea that won’t catch on?
Odds boosts are already a popular tool used by sportsbooks to direct bettors’ attention towards high-margin bets, often wagers that are unlikely to cash in. But allowing certain customers to pay for the privilege of accessing better odds is a new innovation.
Multi-leg bets tend to be less likely to win given the variables involved, but the promise of higher payouts makes them popular with sports bettors.
Many leading sportsbooks’ executives, including DraftKings CEO Jason Robins, spoke in 2024 of how parlays have become an increasingly important part of their offering and their product differentiation in the market. Robins said in November that while DraftKings’ structural sportsbook hold is projected to sit at 11% in FY 2025, internally, the company is confident it can be even higher driven by increased parlay mix and product enhancements.
Robins was speaking around the same time that he was blaming “customer-friendly outcomes” for a poor quarter as the company lowered its fiscal-year revenue and EBITDA projections.
DraftKings has offered a Progressive Parlay product since December 2023, which allows bettors to still cash on a multi-leg parlay even if every leg does not hit. In August 2024, it acquired Simplebet, a leading provider of the type of in-play betting technology that augments much parlay wagering.
No major U.S. operator has tried a subscription offering but if DraftKings+ proves as popular as Same Game Parlays, there is a good chance others might follow suit. Or, it could be a brief experiment like the betting surcharge idea that the company raised and quickly abandoned over the course of a few weeks last summer.
