The company’s CEO and founders showed off their new facility in the city's Back Bay neighborhood with a tour and a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by Gov. Charlie Baker and other officials.
"Massachusetts has been home to DraftKings since our inception, and we take immense pride in being part of the vibrant technology community here," said Jason Robins, DraftKings CEO and Co-Founder. "Our new headquarters will foster innovation while providing a true home-field advantage as we work toward our goal of being the ultimate sports entertainment destination for fans."
The move will allow the company to accelerate its skyrocketing growth. The company, which currently has over 700 employees, saw a 65-percent increase year-over-year for employee headcount. Equipped with professional production and podcast studios along with green rooms to bolster DraftKings’ focus on in-house content creation, the space also features custom and dynamic work areas designed to spark innovation and the development of new products.
"Massachusetts is home to a thriving innovation economy, and we are pleased that DraftKings is a part of that economy," said Governor Baker. "We are glad to support an environment that encourages the expansion of Massachusetts-based tech companies like this one."
To complement DraftKings’ collaborative workspace and culture, the office offers amenity centers along with lockers, showers and mother’s rooms. Since being founded in 2012, DraftKings has established office locations across the United States in California, Florida, Nevada, New Jersey and New York.
Expansion
DraftKings’ expansion comes as the U.S. Supreme Court overturned The Professional And Amateur Sports Protection Act last May, allowing states to determine their own sports gambling laws.
Baker’s office estimated sports betting in the commonwealth would haul in $35 million in tax revenue in fiscal year 2020. In January, Baker introduced a sports gambling bill approving wagering lounges at the three licensed casino operations in Massachusetts as well as online sports wagering.
Daily fantasy sports contests are already legal but are currently untaxed in the state.
Sports betting before summer recess
Gov. Charlie Baker reiterated their hopes that the state will legalize sports betting in the coming months to allow additional job growth and bring in new tax revenue.
Baker filed a bill in January to allow online wagering on sporting events, and several lawmakers filed their own versions. Baker’s bill would put a 12.5 percent tax on online operators like DraftKings, while sports wagering inside casinos would be taxed at 10 percent.
"Our preferred option would be that this is something the Legislature takes up before they break for the summer, which will probably be somewhere around August," Baker told reporters after the ribbon-cutting. "That would be the timeline we think makes sense, because that would land before the start of the next NFL season."