Jackpocket, a Santa Barbara–headquartered software company, was recently purchased by DraftKings, one of the world’s largest digital sports betting companies, for $750 million. Founded in 2013 by CEO Peter Sullivan in New York City, Jackpocket is an online lottery courier service that operates in 14 states and Washington, D.C., offering users a secure way to purchase and obtain state lottery tickets.
Sullivan opened the second headquarters in Santa Barbara (what their blog calls the “Silicon Riviera”) in 2021, just after Jackpocket secured $120 million in their Series D round of funding. At the time of its opening, Sullivan said he liked Santa Barbara because it “offers an amazing active lifestyle, beautiful weather, a strong sense of community, and access to top colleges and universities.”
The recent deal with DraftKings, announced on February 15, will pay out $412.5 million in cash to existing Jackpocket shareholders and $337.5 million in existing DraftKings Class A common stock. In a press release, DraftKings said the purchase will “enable DraftKings to access and grow into the massive U.S. lottery industry, but more importantly strengthen its position in Sportsbook and iGaming through higher customer lifetime value.”
With the capital from the acquisition, Sullivan says he hopes to create more jobs in Santa Barbara to support Jackpocket’s merger with DraftKings’ national network. Sullivan wants to capitalize on the area’s growing tech industry scene and use the acquisition to build on a strong existing foundation in Santa Barbara.
“Together with DraftKings, we will be able to bring tremendous value to our customer base as we advance our mission to create a more convenient, fun, and responsible way to take part in the lottery,” said Sullivan.
“DraftKings’ broad footprint and exceptional mobile products present an opportunity to meaningfully expand the digital lottery vertical, and we could not be more excited to come together with DraftKings.”
