Discover the women who are disrupting the male-dominated gambling sector.

• The gambling industry is being reevaluated by FanDuel CEO Amy Howe and Entain's chief, Jette Nygaard-Andersen, regarding some crucial matters.
• Two influential women have emerged in a male-dominated world.
• While they have served as examples to women in the gaming industry, they have also encouraged the industry to reevaluate its spending on customer acquisition.

Amy Howe knows how to grab headlines.

After becoming CEO of FanDuel Group, Howe raised concerns about the industry's spending on customer acquisition.

We are concerned about the way we allocate our funds for customer acquisition costs relative to the value of the customer, as stated by Howe in an interview with CNBC after the launch of mobile sports betting in New York state in January. Our goal is to reach the largest and most suitable audience while being financially responsible.

Entain CEO Jette Nygaard-Andersen is vocal about the unsustainable advertising, marketing, and promotions spending in the U.S. online gambling industry.

Last year, Nygaard-Andersen and Howe, two women, secured their positions as CEOs in the sportsbook and online gambling industry, which has historically been male-dominated. They recognize the significance of their roles from both a business and cultural standpoint.

Nygaard-Andersen stated, "I don't view myself as a female CEO," before shrugging and adding, "I am a leader in the industry with ambitions to change it. I want to alter not only our product offerings but also our perspective on diversity and inclusion within the industry."

The CEOs' concerns about costs are compelling the industry to consider how it spends money, particularly in relation to acquiring gaming customers.

To attract customers, sports betting companies frequently provide promotions, including sign-up bonuses and risk-free first bets. However, these promotions can reduce profits. In certain states, such as New York, companies must treat these promotions as gaming revenue rather than deductible marketing expenses.

DraftKings, led by founder and CEO Jason Robins, is under pressure to plan its path to profitability. Analysts press Robins in earnings calls to explain customer acquisition costs and marketing budgets. Caesars CEO Tom Reeg launched the Caesars Sportsbook app in August 2021 with a billion-dollar marketing budget. However, he immediately detailed plans for a return on that investment by 2023, a common target for profitability among sports gambling platforms in the U.S.

Nygaard-Andersen has advocated for various methods to attract customers. She emphasizes a strategy that leverages the appeal of gaming entertainment's recreational aspects, particularly free-to-play games. In a recent interview with CNBC, she stated that this approach is successful: Entain experienced a 25% increase in its global customer database last year, in addition to double-digit growth in 2020.

"We are like Netflix and Google in being high growth customer-focused disruptors, constantly innovating on behalf of our customers," she stated.

MGM Resorts reports that BetMGM, its co-owned internet gaming and casino games platform, holds the top spot in market share, while competing for second place in sports betting in the states where it operates.

New opportunities

Entain has declared that it will invest GBP100 million in an innovation lab called Ennovate to foster cutting-edge technology from around the world and collaborate with nonprofits to apply those innovations for environmental or societal benefits.

Nygaard-Andersen emphasized the importance of ensuring that the technology used to entertain and inspire customers is free from biases in the programming data sets and artificial intelligence that powers the platforms, particularly for underserved groups such as women and young girls.

Nygaard-Andersen was thrilled when she discussed Entain's investment in Girls Who Code, an organization that aims to bridge the gender gap in technology. "By inspiring more girls to embrace technology at an early age, we can cultivate the next generation of tech superstars," she exclaimed.

Nygaard-Andersen and Howe share the same passion for expanding opportunities. Howe expressed her enthusiasm about Flutter, FanDuel's parent company, publicly setting an ambitious goal to have 40% of leadership roles in the company filled by women by 2026.

"Women make up 50% of sports fans, but only 15-20% of the sports betting population," Howe stated. She emphasized the importance of supporting female athletes, promoting women's sports, and targeting female customers in an authentic way.

Howe not only hires and promotes women, but also connects them to high-level jobs in sports. At the recent MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, many women credited Howe with helping them advance their careers. One FanDuel employee told CNBC, "She's not my boss, but she's the boss and to me, she's like a god."

She is committed to a strategy of inclusion that she believes will strengthen the company for years to come, as stated by Howe.

"Being in a position to give back motivates me to become a better leader, and I strongly believe it will contribute to the success of our company and industry in the long run," she stated.