Why Dave & Buster's is Offering Betting on Arcade Games

If you've ever dreamed of betting on Skee-Ball and Hot Shots basketball, Dave & Buster's is ready to make that wish come true.

The popular dining and entertainment chain will soon allow patrons to place real-time wagers on its arcade games through the company's "D&B Rewards" app. The new social betting feature will be powered by Lucra, a gamification software company, and is expected to go live in the coming months.

When it does, the company's five million loyalty members will be able to "digitally compete with each other, earn rewards, and unlock exclusive perks while competing with friends" in an "unparalleled, gamified experience," according to a press release Tuesday.

"We’re thrilled to work with Lucra to bring this exciting new gaming platform to our customers,” said Simon Murray, SVP of Entertainment and Attractions at Dave & Buster’s. “This new partnership gives our loyalty members real-time, unrivaled gaming experiences, and reinforces our commitment to continuing to elevate our customer experience through innovative, cutting-edge technology.”

Neither Dave & Buster's nor Lucra has officially shared how the betting function will work or the limit for each bet, though it's expected to be in the $5-10 range. The feature will also only be available in 44 states for those 18 and older, per CNBC.

Why Dave & Buster's is embracing sports betting with arcade wagers

While Tuesday's press release didn't explicitly mention sports betting - instead referencing "real-money contests" and "cash-based competition" - it's a distinction without a difference for the arcade giant, which has teased a potential foray into sports betting for years.

In 2021, then-CEO Brian Jenkins called sports betting a "meaningful opportunity" and "mean accelerator" for the company's core business as a sports-watching destination, especially as it looked to bounce back from the pandemic.

Later that year, Dave & Buster's publicly flirted with the idea of partnering directly with one of the industry's best sportsbooks, though a deal never materialized.

In the end, the company opted to partner with Gambit Sportsbook, allowing customers to bet on real sporting events using virtual tokens within the D&B Rewards app. That clearly set the stage for its recent partnership with Lucra to integrate betting directly into the company's core arcade experience.

Because those arcade games are classified as games of "skill" - a key designation in the continued expansion of legalized sports betting - Dave & Buster's will be able to evade the typical restrictions placed on the rest of our best sports betting sites. Lucra's offerings can be integrated "in as fast as two weeks," according to Tuesday's release, hinting at a potential rollout even sooner than initial estimates.

The move comes as Dave & Buster's has seen its stock soar by 50% in the past year, which follows a difficult stretch post-pandemic. Its latest bet on the integration of social wagering, already seen as a $6 billion industry by some estimates, could further expand and engage its roughly 50 million unique visitors annually across 223 venues in North America.