DraftKings Takes Responsible Gaming Seriously

You may be excused if you have never heard of the Responsible Online Gaming Association (ROGA). While the association itself isn't a household word yet, the research it does on addressing responsible gaming often is.

DraftKings was a founding member of this association, which funds rigorous responsible gaming research and even provides operators with independent certification of their responsible gaming programs. 

Lori Kalani, who has a lot of weight on her shoulders with the title of Chief Responsible Gaming Officer at DraftKings, is proud of the work that her company does with ROGA and recently discussed the partnership in a roundtable at SBC Americas in Fort Lauderdale.

Ms. Kalani, who holds an MBA and a law degree, has extensive experience in consumer protection law and was a co-chair of the State Attorney General's practice. 

DraftKings, believing that her background in politics, policy, and consumer protection law made her the ideal candidate, carved out the new role specifically for her in April 2024. She reports directly to CEO Jason Robbins and is explicitly responsible for ensuring that the company's player safety and protection protocols are part of every facet of the operation.  

The Long Road Ahead

While that certainly sounds like a lot of work, she stated in the discussion that her goal for her new position was to work herself out of a job. She would like to see her role made redundant by reducing gambling harm to zero. While we always applaud lofty goals, we'd say there's no immediate need for Ms.Kalani to be filling out unemployment benefits just quite yet.

The National Council on Problem Gambling estimates that 2 to 3 million Americans currently face severe gambling addiction, and as many as 8 million more face more moderate gambling issues, with at least 5 million of those meeting the definition for compulsive gamblers.

More alarming is the rate amongst DraftKings' target audience, young men. While rates for problem gambling are around 3% for the population as a whole, as many as 10% of men aged 18-30 are problem gamblers. If more than 10% of your customer base shows signs of being addicted to your product, it may be a bit early to be speaking of early retirement.

Kalani probably knows the heartbreak behind those numbers far better than most. She stated that she grew up in Las Vegas with a father who was a compulsive gambler. After her parents divorced, both her mother and brother also showed signs of destructive behaviors related to gambling addiction.

But she still has come to believe that gambling can be offered to the vast majority of people without incident or fear of addiction. But that being said, these companies have a responsibility to the consumer to put protections and guardrails in place to detect and help those who begin to show signs of gambling issues. 

Getting it Right

DraftKings does have a substantial toolbox set aside for those seeking help, and that includes apps like KindBridge, which has self-assessments and self-help resources for those who are starting to feel that gambling has too much sway in their daily lives. 

For those needing more substantial and immediate help, they offer BetBlocker, which allows a player to immediately disengage from more than 18,000 gambling apps and sites. Of course, the company has its own tools in place that can be used to either permanently or temporarily self-exclude from DraftKings. These tools also let you set limits on buy-ins, time played, and even maximum allowed bets. 

One of the tools Ms. Kalani discussed in her presentation was the company's My Stat Tool. She believes that there is stigma attached to some of the more traditional RG tools, but simple apps like My Stats, which shows the user their time on the device, total amounts wagered, and net win or, more likely, loss, reach a far wider audience and can help players understand the total scope of their gambling behavior. 

The Role Of ROGA

She also touted the role of ROGA, which she believes can be a powerful tool for the biggest online operators to come together and work on problem gambling as a group instead of approaching each site piecemeal. For instance, she mentioned her belief that once a person self-excludes from one ROGA member site, they should self-exclude from all ROGA sites.

Also, with each individual site pouring money into research on what works and what doesn't, perhaps ROGA would be a chance for all of these operators to come together and adopt best practices built on research from across the industry instead of each company going it alone.

DraftKings' approach to responsible gaming under Ms. Kalani signals a begrudging shift towards an industry-wide solution instead of a site-specific one. She certainly has her work cut out for her, especially with problem gambling rates in her core demographic in the double digits. 

But with both her and DraftKings committing to transparency, third-party research, and accessible tools, it would seem to signal that they intend to do their best to use innovation to reduce harm.