Drive by DraftKings to “Double Down” on Real-Money Gaming with New Fund

A $100 Billion Market That’s “Just Getting Started”

Drive by DraftKings believes the RMG sector is at a critical inflection point. The market already exceeds $100 billion in global gross gaming revenue and is projected to reach $150 billion by 2030.

According to Meredith McPherron, the firm’s CEO and Managing Partner, this growth is only the beginning.

“Real Money Gaming is no longer a niche,” McPherron wrote in a recent LinkedIn post. “It’s a $100B+ sector reshaping how we engage with entertainment, and we believe it’s just getting started.” This conviction is at the core of the firm’s decision to “double down” on its RMG investments.

The Three Forces Driving “RMG 2.0”

The firm’s bullish outlook is based on three converging forces that are reshaping the industry: technology, regulation, and cultural normalization. Technologically, the infrastructure for RMG has matured rapidly since 2018, with instant payments and robust compliance tools now standard. This, according to Drive, is setting the stage for “RMG 2.0,” a new wave of entertainment products.

The US regulatory landscape has also changed dramatically, with 30 states now allowing online sports betting and seven permitting some form of iGaming. While complex, this evolving legal framework creates opportunities for companies that build compliance into their products from the start. Culturally, RMG has gone mainstream, integrated into sports media and social feeds, and blurring the line between “gamer and gambler.”

A Focus on Infrastructure and New Formats

With its second fund, Drive by DraftKings will focus its investments on three key areas. The first is infrastructure to support the global scale of real-money gaming. The second is new formats that merge streaming, social challenges, and real-time liquidity. Finally, the firm will back next-generation studios that can develop and launch mobile-native games in weeks, not years.

This strategy builds on the success of Fund I, which supported B2C leaders like Papaya, Picklebet, and Triumph. The firm’s core investment thesis is built around a simple but powerful user loop: “Play, Payout, Repeat.” McPherron says this is the common thread that “ties it all together” across the diverse RMG landscape.

Drive by DraftKings is actively seeking out the next wave of innovators in the RMG space. The firm believes the US online gambling market has grown faster than anyone predicted, and it is now looking for the founders who will lead the “RMG 2.0” revolution.

“The rails are now in. The next wave… will be led by founders reimagining how risk can enhance entertainment,” the firm stated in a recent blog post. McPherron echoed this sentiment with a direct call to action for entrepreneurs: “If you’re building at the frontier of real-money gaming, we’d love to hear from you.”