Dave & Buster’s lets customers wager on arcade games in a play for “social betting”
Pinball and beer pints… Dave & Buster’s, the Chuck E. Cheese of the adult world, is getting into betting. The bar-restaurant-arcade chain will soon start offering social wagering on its app, meaning customers can bet on which half of their friend group will win Skee-Ball or bomb in Hot Shots basketball. D&B’s 5M loyalty members will earn rewards while competing, which could boost the time and $$ they spend at the arcades.
Lucra(tive): D&B’s is teaming up with gamification software startup Lucra to power its betting features. Lucra’s contests are open to adults in 44 states, and D&B’s said there’ll be a limit on the size of bets allowed.
Dave & Buster’s bracket… is different from your March Madness wagers on DraftKings or FanDuel. Still, D&B’s may be trying to capitalize on the betting boom: US sports betting has exploded since the Supreme Court struck down a federal ban in 2018. Over half of states have legalized sports bets, and last year Americans legally wagered a record $120B on sports, up 28% from the previous year. But D&B’s wants to capitalize on a more casual form of wagering:
Social betting: These informal bets often take the form of Venmo’ing your friend $5 after losing in Jenga, or handing someone $10 after your prediction failed to materialize.
It’s a smaller industry than sports betting, but companies like Lucra are emerging to formalize (and monetize) these friendly bets. Lucra even signed a deal with the pickleball ratings system to allow players to compete for cash.
Adults just wanna have fun… The kidult economy is thriving as grownups try to connect with their inner child through Disney park visits, collectible Squishmallows, and “Star Wars” Lego sets. Companies like Dave & Buster’s, Bowlero, and Topgolf have capitalized, realizing that adults don’t need to ask for token money. Social betting could raise the stakes in the world of kidult entertainment.