DraftKings and Gamres to Introduce Evidence-Based Responsible Gaming Tool, Positive Play Scale, to DraftKings Players in the United States

BOSTON and OTTAWA, Ontario, January 25, 2023 /3BL Media/ - DraftKings Inc. (Nasdaq: DKNG) and Gamres, a leading responsible gaming (RG) consulting and research practice based in Ontario, today announced a new collaboration to introduce the Positive Play Scale to DraftKings through an online survey to select U.S. DraftKings customers. The collaboration will mark the first time a multi-state online U.S. gaming operator will incorporate the Positive Play Scale tool into its RG program, which is the first ever standardized scale to measure RG beliefs and behaviours among players. The adoption of the Positive Play Scale will assist DraftKings in optimizing safer play.

“We’re grateful for this opportunity to team up with Gamres, which is renowned for its strategic consulting and research around the world, to bring the Positive Play Scale tool to DraftKings,” said Chrissy Thurmond, Senior Director of Responsible Gaming, DraftKings. “We believe that DraftKings’ responsible gaming program, which strives to be the industry gold standard, will be significantly enhanced with the addition of this scientific tool and will yield rich and actionable insights – helping us to us better understand and engage our players.”

The Positive Play Scale was co-developed by several leading researchers including Gamres’ Dr. Richard Wood, Dr. Michael Wohl, and Dr. Nassim Tabri (Frontiers in Psychology, 2017). The tool seeks to understand and encourage positive play among all players. The Positive Play Scale tool asks players about four key beliefs – personal responsibility, gaming literacy, honesty and control, and pre-commitment – to measure their responsible gaming knowledge and behaviours.

On behalf of DraftKings, Gamres will prepare and administer an online survey to a U.S.-based sample of DraftKings players using the framework of the Positive Play Scale. Gamres will analyse the survey results to provide a baseline measure of Positive Play at DraftKings, as well as to identify possible differences in certain player groups and how DraftKings may refine its RG practices to advance positive play.

“Gamres is thrilled to be working with DraftKings to help promote positive play amongst their customers. Most players just play for fun and to be entertained, but we have found that some players (generally) have misperceptions about gaming that can either diminish their enjoyment or in some cases lead to them spending more than they intended,” said Dr. Richard Wood, Gamres. “We believe that the Positive Play Scale will help to optimize DraftKings’ RG strategy to identify those areas that would benefit from the most support. As such, we expect that the findings from this project will help DraftKings develop a proactive approach to responsible gaming that encourages all players to have healthy, positive playing experiences.”

Through the DraftKings S.E.R.V.E.S. corporate social responsibility program, standing for Service, Equity, Responsible Gaming, Vitality, Entrepreneurship, and Sports, DraftKings’ responsible gaming focus is to foster safer play through technology, staff training, education and resources for consumers, collaboration with not-for-profits and other external stakeholders, and through the support of evidence-based research. DraftKings incorporates responsible gaming into its brand and marketing strategy, working to educate customers across a broad range of consumer touchpoints including its digital social media channels and retail sportsbooks. Additionally, DraftKings is proud to be the first U.S. gaming operator to offer financial support to all of the U.S. state councils and affiliates of the National Council on Problem Gambling through its State Council Funding Program.

To learn more about DraftKings’ commitment to responsible gaming, please visit its Responsible Gaming page and Safer Play Portal. To learn more about Gamres, please visit its website: Gamres.org.

About DraftKings

DraftKings Inc. is a digital sports entertainment and gaming company created to fuel the competitive spirit of sports fans with products that range across daily fantasy, regulated gaming and digital media. Headquartered in Boston, and launched in 2012 by Jason Robins, Matt Kalish and Paul Liberman, DraftKings is the only U.S.-based vertically integrated sports betting operator. DraftKings’ mission is to make life more exciting by responsibly creating the world’s favorite real-money games and betting experiences. DraftKings Sportsbook is live with mobile and/or retail sports betting operations pursuant to regulations in 22 states and in Ontario, Canada. The Company operates iGaming pursuant to regulations in 5 states and in Ontario, Canada under its DraftKings brand and pursuant to regulations in 3 states under its Golden Nugget Online Gaming brand. DraftKings’ daily fantasy sports product is available in 44 states, certain Canadian provinces and the United Kingdom. DraftKings is both an official daily fantasy and sports betting partner of the NFL, NHL, PGA TOUR and UFC, as well as an official daily fantasy partner of NASCAR, an official sports betting partner of the NBA and an authorized gaming operator of MLB. Launched in 2021, DraftKings Marketplace is a digital collectibles ecosystem designed for mainstream accessibility that offers curated NFT drops and supports secondary-market transactions. In addition, DraftKings owns and operates Vegas Sports Information Network (VSiN), a multi-platform broadcast and content company. DraftKings is committed to being a responsible steward of this new era in real-money gaming with a Company-wide focus on responsible gaming and corporate social responsibility.

About Gamres
Gamres, with its mantra “putting research into play,” provides research and consultancy services to design, implement and evaluate responsible gaming (RG) strategy. Based in Ontario, Canada, it also offers a number of innovative tools to optimize RG strategy and to promote positive play. Gamres founders co-developed and continue to champion the Positive Play Scale (Wood, Wohl, Tabri & Philander, 2017) which is the first ever standardized scale to measure responsible gaming-related beliefs and behaviours amongst players.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this press release are “forward looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words “estimates,” “projected,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “forecasts,” “plans,” “intends,” “believes,” “seeks,” “may,” “will,” “would,” “should,” “future,” “propose” and variations of these words or similar expressions (or the negative versions of such words or expressions) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, conditions or results, and involve a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other important factors, many of which are outside DraftKings’ control, that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. For a discussion of additional risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see DraftKings’ filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. DraftKings does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

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