What Robins told CNBC - and what he tells his kids
In a CNBC interview with Contessa Brewer, Jason Robins said this is a topic for every family: "Every parent, even if you don't have a business or don't live in a world where the kids grow up around it, I think it's something every parent should have conversations with their kids about." He said his children grew up around the industry and even picked up the lingo.
"They know what point spreads and money lines are," he said, adding a favorite line from home: "They always ask me, 'Dad, do you know where the money is on for DraftKings today,' so they know who to root for, which I find funny." He said he explained how DraftKings works when they were young, but they will have to wait until age 21 to participate.
Robins compared open talks about gambling to how kids might ask about a parent having a glass of wine. "The important thing is just to have a transparent relationship with your kids, where they feel like they can ask you anything," he said.
The numbers behind problem gambling
A recent look at health records linked legalized sports betting to a jump in diagnosed gambling disorders, up around 61% in states that legalized it, while states without legalization saw cases decline by about 30% between 2018 and 2026. Men 18 to 29 registered the greatest prevalence of gambling disorder.
The study's authors said several forces could be shaping those results, citing wider public awareness, more frequent screening, and greater recognition and coding of gambling issues in medical settings in recent years. And the National Council on Problem Gambling reports 8% of American adults - close to 20 million people - said they experienced at least one sign of problematic gambling behavior "many times" over the past year.
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How DraftKings says it is responding
Robins said the company has put resources into safety features because, "Even though it's a small percentage, there's a lot of people using these products, so even a small percentage can be a meaningful number of people, and that's why we've invested so much." DraftKings' Responsible Gaming tools include account limits and a self-exclusion option that lets customers keep themselves off the platform.
He added that DraftKings sometimes disables accounts based on observed behavior, while arguing that self-exclusion can reach further in some cases because certain states circulate exclusion lists among licensed operators. Robins also said the Responsible Online Gaming Association - a trade group comprising major online gaming companies - is pursuing a nationwide self-exclusion list. Privacy rules and regulation make that hard, he said, but he believes the group is making headway.
Policy ideas and the investor angle
Robins said he would not oppose a rule requiring customers to set gambling limits, but he described it as a tough policy question. He wants limit setting to become second nature, like buckling a seat belt. "Everybody has a limit," he said. "You can set whatever number you want. At least then you're saying, okay this is what I'm comfortable with."
For investors, the takeaways are straightforward: diagnoses are climbing where betting is legal, millions report repeated problem indicators, and operators are building out guardrails. That mix could shape growth assumptions, compliance costs, and reputational risk in sports betting equities.
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