Next Friday, Jan. 11, sports bettors from across the country will descend upon Jersey City, N.J. to make a run at winning the inaugural DraftKings Sports Betting National Championship (SBNC). The idea for the large-scale event originated at the company’s headquarters in Boston and will come to fruition only six months after DK launched the first online/mobile sportsbook in the Garden State on Aug. 6, 2018.
And it’s not small stakes. The full price buy-in is $10,000, or players can win their via qualifier tournaments on the daily fantasy sports side of things. So far about four dozen DraftKings DFS players have won their way in, plus a three-night hotel stay and $1,000 for travel expenses. There remains time for more players to get in through qualifiers. Half of that $10,000 gets applied to the opening $5,000 bankroll, which is the starting point for every contestant aiming for the $1 million top prize and other prizes based on a field of 531 or fewer entries.
“The biggest issue is probably getting to New Jersey for some people but I think it’s well worth it for a Friday, Saturday and Sunday of betting,” Johnny Avello, DraftKings’ director of sportsbook operations, told RotoGrinders. “If you’re going to bet $5,000 in action on games, you might as well put it it in this contest because you get to keep the bankroll.”
The SBNC will coincide with the NFL’s Divisional Round playoffs games on Saturday, Jan. 12 and Sunday, Jan. 13. On Friday and Saturday, the entire betting menu — sides, totals, props, parlays and teasers — on NBA, NHL, darts, whatever, is fair game.
Editor’s Note: Find out how YOU can win a free seat (valued at $10,000) to the DraftKings Sports Betting National Championship with a $1 million first-place prize!
Contest rules
“You have to bet a minimum of $1,000 on Friday,” Avello explained. “There will be some college, pro basketball and hockey to bet on. It’s the same on Saturday but they’ll be a couple playoff games in the NFL. On Sunday — the last day — bettors need to focus on just the two NFL games. You can only bet the NFL games unless you have some parlays going from Friday or Saturday going into those games.”
(You can read the full contest overview here; FAQ’s and rules are available near the bottom of the page.)
DraftKings Sportsbook has guaranteed a hefty $2.5 million in total prizes, and while the number of registrants is not currently public information, there’s speculation that there may be some overlay — maybe a lot of it, meaning a lot of potential value for those locked and loaded and perhaps some last-week entrants. Whichever contestant finishes with the largest bankroll wins the top prize (and accordingly the runner-up prizes and down the line). Even if contestants don’t finish in the money, all players take home their final bankroll at the end of the tournament. So theoretically you can finish in the black, but not with one of the prizes.
“This is brand new. This has never been done anywhere,” Avello said. “Las Vegas does have its contests. They have the Super Contest but that’s picking football every single week for the entire season. There’s other contests in Las Vegas like that but there has never been a contest for this type of prize money for only three days. And on a mobile app where you get to bet your own bankroll and keep your winnings.”
Avello is intimately familiar with the Nevada sports betting scene. He’s the longtime, former Wynn Resorts sportsbook director and joined DraftKings’ growing sportsbook operation in October, along with Ed Malinowksi, former sports and racebook executive at Golden Entertainment.
The venue
The venue in Jersey City is just outside New York City. The “New Jersey VIP Sportsbook Venue” will not have a sportsbook on premises; for that you’d need to head to the DraftKings Sportsbook at Resorts Casino in Atlantic City.
“It takes place in New Jersey, so you have to be within the borders of the state to play and you [make wagers] on the mobile app, so you don’t have to be in any specific spot,” Avello said.
According to the contest FAQ’s: “Starting on Saturday with the kickoff of the first NFL divisional round game the live leaderboard will be published including the current score for each player as well as their live, upcoming, and graded bets.”
One competitor from the DFS community who is set to compete, Mike Brown (aka h3budda), is anticipating pretty stiff competition.
“There are so many sharks in the competition that I think people will be aggressive early and often,” Brown said. “I would say a majority of the people in the competition won’t worry about going broke trying to hit it big. You may see multiple people bust their rolls before the last day.”
RotoGrinders and our friends at SharpSide will be at the scene to observe and report how the competitors are whipping their heads between the games, the mobile app and the leaderboard as they strategize based on how competitors are wagering.
“The team in Boston wanted to crown a sports betting national champion,” Avello said. “Now we’re close. We’re a week away with many more to come in the future.”
[Also See: NFL Wild Card Action Report: Bettors Laying the Points with the Bears]