Inside the Fastest-Growing Corner of Digital Entertainment

At Drive by DraftKings, Real Money Gaming (RMG) is a space where we’ve built strong conviction. Our strategic platform gives us a front-row seat not just to where the market is, but where it’s going.

Once narrowly defined as online sportsbook or casino gaming, RMG has evolved into a broad and ever-expanding sector of the entertainment industry. Fantasy sports and DFS, skill-based contests, prediction markets, crypto-enabled platforms, sweepstakes, and creator-led cash games all fall under the umbrella we now call RMG.

Why? Because across categories, the user experience converges around a familiar loop: Play, Payout, Repeat.

The category already exceeds $100 billion in global gross gaming revenue¹ and is tracking toward $150 billion by 2030, growing more than 10% annually. But size alone isn’t the story. The real action lies in the pace of change, fueled by three converging forces:

1. Technology: Building the Real-Money Rails

Today’s consumer expects entertainment that’s mobile-first, snackable, and high-quality. RMG fits that mold perfectly, but for years, the infrastructure lagged behind.

That began to change with the repeal of PASPA in 2018, which triggered a wave of innovation in licensed sports betting and iGaming.

Seven years later, the gaps are closing fast:

• Payments and wallets are near-instant — deposit, wager, and cash out in minutes.
• Geolocation and KYC tools are now table stakes, enabling real-time, multi-state compliance.
• AI-powered tooling compresses time to market, letting small studios build lean and launch fast.

The rails are now in. The next wave - RMG 2.0 - will be led by founders reimagining how risk can enhance entertainment.

2. U.S. Regulation: A Mix of Mature and Moving Targets

Over the past five years, the U.S. gambling map has shifted dramatically, with 30 states (and DC) now permitting online sports betting and seven allowing some form of iGaming.

This creates a sizable market, with long-term upside if states like California or Texas come online. But regulation is not static. Tax increases and new restrictions are becoming more common. Operators must treat “legal” as a moving target, not a fixed destination.

DFS-style contests and sweepstakes face new scrutiny, but rapid adoption shows that demand for low-friction real money experiences remains strong.

By contrast, skill-based games operate with fewer regulatory hurdles. Outside a handful of fantasy-licensing states, they can launch with a favorable legal opinion and iterate quickly. Free from heavy tax burdens, these businesses often operate with significant gross margins - a profile not possible in licensed gambling.

Prediction markets are also gaining momentum. More than $3B in total volume was wagered on the 2024 U.S. presidential election. These platforms move house risk to players, blending sports, finance, and culture in a tradable format. Regulated by the CFTC, they still face jurisdictional questions from state gaming commissions, but they have the potential to unlock new liquidity and capital for the industry.

The lesson across all sub-verticals: regulatory complexity creates opportunity if compliance is baked into product and strategy from day one.