DraftKings reshapes teams as automation expands and prediction markets scale up

• DraftKings has reorganised parts of the business, with multiple employees reporting unexpected layoffs via LinkedIn posts.

• A company spokesperson said the changes are intended to align talent with priority investment areas, while acknowledging some roles were impacted.
• DraftKings continues to advertise around 80 open roles on its careers page despite the reductions.
• An analyst at Citizens estimated the workforce reduction could approach 5 per cent and projected roughly $30m in annual savings using a median salary assumption.
• The reshuffle follows the launch of DraftKings Predictions and a wider push to use artificial intelligence across internal operations and customer facing promotion decisions.

DraftKings has begun restructuring in parts of its organisation, with layoffs reported across several functions and a company statement framing the move as a realignment towards core priorities and investment areas.

The changes became visible through LinkedIn posts from now former employees, with individuals from different segments of the business, including software engineering and recruitment, saying they were laid off unexpectedly and are seeking new roles.

In a statement provided to NEXT.io, a DraftKings spokesperson said the operator has decided to reorganise some teams to better align its people with the most important priorities and areas of investment. The spokesperson added that while the decisions are difficult, DraftKings believes they are necessary to position the business for future growth.

Even as roles have been cut, the company continues to recruit. DraftKings has listed around 80 open positions on the careers section of its website.

The workforce changes follow a recent update from cofounder and chief executive Jason Robins on the company’s 2025 performance. Robins said DraftKings closed the year with fourth quarter revenue up 43 per cent year on year, delivering record revenue and adjusted EBITDA, and said the business began 2026 strongly.

Despite that messaging, market sentiment has remained cautious. DraftKings shares have fallen sharply since September 2025, moving from about $47.91 at the start of that month to around $21.81 as of 24 February.

In a note to investors, Citizens analyst Jordan Bender estimated the headcount reduction could approach 5 per cent of employees. Using a median salary assumption of roughly $100,000, he projected potential annual cost savings of around $30m. Bender also suggested the timing, roughly 10 days after earnings and forward guidance, indicates the savings were likely already reflected in 2026 adjusted EBITDA guidance of $700m to $900m.

The restructuring also lands as DraftKings expands into event based markets. In December, the operator launched DraftKings Predictions, its prediction market platform. Management is also shifting infrastructure to Railbird as its primary exchange ahead of major sporting moments, including March Madness, the World Cup and the 2026 NFL season. A more detailed roadmap is expected at the company’s investor day on 2 March.

Artificial intelligence has been positioned as a key driver of DraftKings’ evolving cost structure. Over the past two years, management commentary has repeatedly pointed to enterprise wide adoption. Bender said DraftKings uses AI internally to automate requests for proposals, support engineers with coding, and deploy chatbots and preliminary legal opinions, with the aim of reducing reliance on outsourced labour.

AI is also playing a growing role in customer engagement and promotional decisioning. Bender said roughly 70 per cent of promotional spending decisions are currently made by AI models, with that share expected to rise as the company pushes for greater personalisation and promotional efficiency.

This is a familiar pattern for scaled US operators entering a more mature phase: growth narratives remain intact, but the cost base gets re engineered to protect margin and fund the next product cycle. When a business is hiring in some areas while cutting in others, it usually signals a shift in capability mix rather than a simple retrenchment.

The prediction market angle matters because exchange style products demand different operating muscle. Liquidity management, market integrity controls, and rapid iteration around major sporting moments can pull resources away from legacy workflows. Moving to a primary exchange layer also implies a need for tighter integration between trading infrastructure, risk, and customer experience, which often leads to organisational reshaping.

AI is the other major lever, and it is being deployed both to reduce unit costs and to sharpen decision making in promotions. If most promotional spend is increasingly model led, then teams that previously supported manual decision cycles can shrink, while data, platform, and compliance oversight roles grow in relative importance. The trade off is execution risk: automation can improve efficiency, but only if governance keeps pace, especially in a sector where promotional intensity and player protection remain under constant scrutiny.