The Real Reason Sportsbooks Keep Adding New Betting Features

However, not all sportsbook features are the same, as some really do improve UX while others are designed to line the operator’s pockets!

The SGP - The Greatest Money Printer in Betting History

SGPs are all about increasing a book’s bottom line since FanDuel introduced them to the US market in 2019; they’ve been a game changer for operators’ profitability. ^[1] The hold rate on a standard straight bet runs around 4-5%, while the hold on SGPs runs 20-30%, sometimes higher on tickets with five or more leg. ^[2]

With such a high margin, it’s no surprise that books have poured immense resources into perfecting their SGPs and pushing them onto bettors. Every major operator opens its NFL page with pre-built popular SGPs. ^[3] One-tap parlay builders are front and center. During the 2024 NFL season, SGPs accounted for over 25% of total betting handle at some major operators. ^[4]

Credit: DraftKings Sportsbook – Screenshot captured by Chad Nagel on June 8

The focus on SGPs has caused the national handle to increase from 6.9% in 2019 to 10.2% in 2025. ^[5] That 3.2 percentage point swing between 2019 and 2025 represents approximately $5.3 billion in additional annual losses that American bettors have been hit with. ^[6]

The “Useful Feature” Category: Cash Out and Edit My Bet

Not everything is a profit maximization scheme with good branding, though. Cash out, which allows you to lock in a profit mid-game or cut losses when your four-leg parlay's third leg collapses in real time, is a real improvement over the old days of watching a winning ticket go cold because you couldn't exit.

BetMGM's Edit My Bet is another standout proprietary feature. The Edit My Bet function gives bettors unusual flexibility, as you can swap a parlay leg mid-game, and differentiates the BetMGM product from competitors.

Does it also reduce the number of times a bettor just lets a nearly-losing ticket ride to zero? Yes. Does that technically help the sportsbook retain a customer who might otherwise blow their bankroll in a single NFL Sunday? Also yes. Good features can serve both parties.

The “We Need Something to Talk About" Category: Prediction Markets

In December 2025, both DraftKings and FanDuel launched prediction market products within days of each other. ^[7] Both were announced with considerable fanfare and launched in states where traditional sports betting remains illegal.

Credit: DraftKings Predictions – Screenshot captured by Chad Nagel on June 8

Is the prediction market product genuinely useful? Maybe, eventually. Prediction markets are arguably the new daily fantasy sports and are a way to build brand awareness and customer databases in non-legal states, where users download apps, create accounts, and deposit funds.

So that when traditional sports betting eventually arrives in those states, the operators already have the customer relationships, apps installed, and payment credentials on file. ^[8]

But it's also telling that DraftKings CEO Jason Robins, in his Q3 2025 earnings call, described himself as the most bullish I have ever felt about our future in the same breath as announcing the prediction market launch while his CFO was fixated on the parlay handling continuing to grind higher. ^[9] So for now, prediction markets are responsible for the catchy headline, but SGPs are powering the P&L.

The "Justifying the Product Roadmap" Category

Some features exist simply because a development team needs to show deliverables, a product manager needs a quarterly win, and a marketing director needs something new to put in an email blast. 

Take social and community features. Both FanDuel and DraftKings have quietly rolled out bet-sharing widgets, tailing functions that let you copy another user's slip, and leaderboard feeds. They claim these features build a community, keep users in the app longer, and turn betting into a social experience. 

However, the reality is that usage data on these features is thin, organic traction is minimal, and they don't meaningfully move handle or retention in any direction that shows up in an earnings call. What they do is give a product manager something to demo at a quarterly review. 

The in-app stats hubs are the same story. DraftKings and FanDuel have both built out injury report feeds, team trend dashboards, and historical ATS records directly inside their apps. But again, any bettor serious enough to actually use ATS trend data already has more advanced dedicated tools open in another tab.