JACKPOCKET

How Jackpocket grew 9x by planning media around state lines and jackpot demand

Jackpocket brought traditional lottery players online through an app available across 18 states.

The company was scaling in a category where every market was shaped by state regulation, local media boundaries, and constantly changing jackpot demand.

The ChallengE

State lines and media markets did not match

Covering much of Southern New Jersey required buying the entire Philadelphia DMA, including Philadelphia and much of Pennsylvania, where Jackpocket did not operate. National and DMA-level plans risked spending heavily against people who could not use the product. Targeting too narrowly could increase costs and reduce coverage.

Demand created another moving target. Interest rose sharply as jackpots climbed, then reset without warning when someone won. A static media schedule could miss the most valuable acquisition windows or keep spending after demand disappeared.

THE INSIGHT

The plan needed to follow where Jackpocket could operate and when demand peaked

Jackpocket needed a media system built around two questions:

  1. Where could the product legally operate?

  2. When was consumer intent high enough to justify greater investment?

By overlaying responders and high-value players with Acxiom data, Eden built a customer segmentation that revealed the audience was largely made up of traditional lottery players who had moved online, rather than the younger consumer originally imagined. Reaching them required more than optimizing digital media around the small percentage of people who immediately downloaded the app.

The plan needed to balance reach and frequency across linear television, streaming, and audio, then change as jackpots and market conditions changed.

WHAT CHANGED

A market-by-market media mix with weekly jackpot playbooks

Eden mapped every market to understand where media audiences crossed state lines and how that spill affected the true cost of reaching eligible customers.

The team then built the mix market by market:

  • Linear television delivered efficient reach where DMA coverage aligned with legal availability.

  • Zip-code-level streaming filled geographic gaps and reduced waste where linear television crossed into states where Jackpocket could not operate.

  • Audio and streaming platforms were selected based on their concentration of likely lottery players.

  • Effective CPM analysis guided the balance between broad reach and geographic precision.

Eden also created weekly build-and-boost playbooks tied to jackpot size. Investment increased as jackpots climbed and casual players entered the market, then pulled back when a jackpot reset.

As Jackpocket expanded, Eden continually evaluated when the efficiency of national media would outweigh the waste created by states where the app was unavailable.

THE RESULTS

Subscriber base and account volume grew 9x

Jackpocket’s subscriber base and account volume grew 9x. Customers acquired through the streaming strategy produced the highest long-term value.

When jackpots approached $1 billion, advertising could become up to 100 times more efficient, giving Jackpocket a clear system for concentrating investment during peak demand.

DraftKings acquired Jackpocket for $750 million in 2024.