As the old cliché in sports betting goes, the house always wins. Although as DraftKings has recently learned, perhaps not always.

On Friday, the Boston-based sportsbook giant reported its third quarter earnings. And in doing so, it lowered its guidance for 2024 amid a particularly rough stretch of “customer-friendly sport outcomes” early in the fourth quarter.

Don’t, however, weep for DraftKings just yet, as the sportsbook reported $1.095 billion in revenue in the third quarter, an increase of 39 percent. Still, the sluggish start to the fourth quarter is notable, with Truist Securities analyst Barry Jonas referring to it as “the worst stretch” of NFL results DraftKings has seen, according to Front Office Sports’ A.J. Perez. As a result, the company lowered its full-year 2024 revenue guidance to a range between $4.85 billion and $4.95 billion from $5.05 billion to $5.25 billion.

Maintaining a positive outlook, DraftKings CEO and cofounder Jason Robins told analysts that he expected the sportsbook’s returns to normalize over the course of the remainder of the NFL season. He also pointed to the Baltimore Ravens’ 35-34 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday Night Football as an example of how a single play can have massive implications for its bottom line.

“Just last night, if the Bengals made that two-point conversion or if they didn’t score that last touchdown, there would have been very different outcomes,” Robins said. “So, things can swing either way. Over a longer period of time, it normalizes.”

According to Covers.com, favorites have gone 74-61-4 against the spread this season — a positive outcome for the general betting public. History would suggest that’s not a trend that will continue for long, however, as it’s inevitable that that results will swing back in the sportsbook’s favor.

Factor in other positive indicators, such as Missouri passing a ballot initiative to legalize sports betting earlier this week, and all of this appears to be but a minor blip for DraftKings, which is forecasting between $6.2 billion and $6.6 billion in revenue for 2025. After all, clichés are clichés for a reason as it’s only a matter of time until the house gets back to its winning ways.

[Front Office Sports]