DraftKings Reports $1.44B Revenue and $13.1B Sports Volume in Q2 2026
Quarterly revenue dipped and the company swung to a loss – but handle, users and full-year guidance all moved the other way.
DraftKings reported its Q2 2026 results, and they refuse to sit neatly on one side of the ledger. Revenue came in at $1.44 billion for the three months to 30 June, down $69 million or roughly 5% on the prior year. The company also swung to a net loss of $67.6 million, against a $157.9 million profit in the same quarter of 2025. Yet the amount customers actually wagered rose sharply. Read together, the DraftKings Q2 2026 results describe a business spending to grow and facing short-term margin pressures, not one running out of road.
Why the DraftKings Q2 2026 results split two ways
Start with the number that fell and the number that didn’t. Revenue dropped. Sports Consumer Volume – the total settled across Sportsbook and Prediction Markets – climbed 15% to $13.1 billion. Monthly Unique Payers rose about 9% to 3.6 million. So more people wagered more money, and the top line still went backwards.
Two things explain the divergence, and DraftKings named both. Sporting results ran in customers’ favour, which pulled the sports net revenue margin down to 6.8% from 8.7% a year earlier. And the company leaned harder into promotions to bring new players onto its Sportsbook and its Predictions product. Sales and marketing spend jumped to $322.5 million from $233.2 million. That is a deliberate outlay, not an accident of the calendar.
What the revenue decline actually involves
A softer margin quarter driven by results is largely outside any operator’s control. The promotional step-up is not. It is a decision, and it points at where DraftKings sees its next fight. Predictions, launched only in December 2025, is being funded aggressively, and the company is willing to wear thinner near-term economics to establish it before the busy autumn sports calendar.
The profitability picture reflects that. Adjusted EBITDA landed at $114.6 million, down from $300.6 million a year earlier. Adjusted diluted earnings were $0.09 a share, against $0.38. These are the numbers of a company reinvesting hard, and they read very differently depending on whether you believe the spend converts.
What it signals for operators
CFO Alan Ellingson framed the quarter as an investment phase, saying the core business remains “on track to generate approximately $1 billion of Adjusted EBITDA this year.” DraftKings backed that up by holding full-year 2026 guidance unchanged: revenue of $6.5 billion to $6.9 billion and Adjusted EBITDA of $700 million to $900 million.
CEO Jason Robins was blunter about intent. “Our Super App is now live nationwide, and Predictions is already growing faster than we anticipated,” he said. For rival operators, the signal is straightforward. The largest US player is treating prediction markets as a category to be won, and it is prepared to spend into it. That reshapes the acquisition-cost conversation for everyone chasing the same players this season.
The caveat worth naming
Held guidance is a statement of confidence, not a guarantee. The results are unaudited, and both Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EPS are non-GAAP measures that strip out real costs, including the advocacy and legal spend tied to lobbying for legalisation. Promotional acquisition also carries a well-known risk. Players won on offers do not always stay once the offers stop.
What operators should watch next
The number that will settle the argument is retention. If the players DraftKings acquired this quarter keep wagering profitably as promotional intensity eases into the NFL season, the margin dip reads as a smart down-payment. If they churn, the same spend looks expensive. The next quarter or two, spanning the heart of the US sports calendar, will show which it was.
Source: DraftKings Inc.
