Improvement over time is how established platforms maintain their position. DraftKings has spent years getting better at serving the US sports bettor — refining the app, deepening the American sports markets, improving the in-play experience, expanding the casino offering. Each iteration got closer to the ideal version of what it set out to build. Bet365 has spent 25 years getting better at serving the global sports bettor — extending market coverage, improving in-play infrastructure, adding live streaming, refining the casino product. Each year got closer to the ideal version of what it set out to build.
Both platforms improved toward a specific player. The player they were improving toward was the one they already had. The US sports bettor for DraftKings. The global sports bettor for Bet365. The improvements were for those players and the products that resulted reflect years of iteration toward their specific needs.
The player neither platform had was not the beneficiary of those years of improvement. The crypto-native player. The esports bettor. The player who evaluates loyalty programs on direct cash return and refuses to accept opacity. The player who expects withdrawals in minutes because that is what digital infrastructure can deliver. Neither DraftKings nor Bet365 spent years improving toward this player because neither had them in the first place.
ZunaBet launched in 2026 and got it right for this player from day one. Not because it iterated toward them over years but because it started with them as the design target and built accordingly. This article compares all three and shows what getting it right from the start looks like against getting better over time toward a different player.
DraftKings: Years of Getting Better for the Player It Had
The trajectory of DraftKings’ improvement across its operational history is clear and consistent. Each year the sportsbook got better for the US sports bettor — more markets, better in-play, more refined odds, a more polished app. The NFL experience improved year on year. The NBA, MLB, NHL, and college sports coverage deepened. The casino library expanded. The product that exists in 2026 is better than the product that existed in 2020 and significantly better than the one that existed in 2018 when the platform launched into licensed sports betting.
That trajectory of improvement is what longevity looks like. A platform that keeps getting better for the player it has is a platform that keeps that player engaged over time.
The payment improvement trajectory stopped short of what the player DraftKings did not have needed. Fiat banking improved at the margin — faster options, more methods, better reliability. But it remained fiat banking producing business-day timelines. Bitcoin in select states arrived but not as native infrastructure. The improvement trajectory for payments was toward the player DraftKings had, not toward the player it did not.
The loyalty improvement trajectory followed the same pattern. Dynasty Rewards was refined over time but remained a points system. The improvement was incremental and the effective cash value of the points for experienced players remained lower than the tier descriptions implied. The trajectory improved the system for the player who had it but did not build a different system for the player who needed something fundamentally different.
Bet365: Years of Getting Better for the Player It Had
The trajectory of Bet365’s improvement across 25 years is even clearer than DraftKings’ — 25 years of getting better at sportsbook coverage, going deeper on markets, extending in-play to more events, adding live streaming, improving the casino. The product in 2026 is a significantly more comprehensive sportsbook than the one that existed in 2000 and the trajectory of improvement has been consistent across every year in between.
That trajectory is what a 25-year operational history looks like when the platform keeps improving for the player it has. The global sports bettor got a better product every year.
The payment improvement trajectory remained within fiat banking. The methods got more reliable, the processing times improved at the margin, the platform got better at what its infrastructure allowed. Crypto arrived minimally. The trajectory improved payment service for the player Bet365 had — the fiat banking player — and did not build toward the player it did not have.
The loyalty improvement trajectory built toward the top of the volume curve and away from the general player base. The invite-only VIP structure got more refined for the minority who accessed it. The general player’s loyalty service did not improve in transparency or accessibility. The trajectory served the player Bet365 already had at the meaningful loyalty tier.
ZunaBet: Getting It Right From Day One for the Player Neither Had
ZunaBet launched in 2026 under Strathvale Group Ltd, operating under an Anjouan gaming license and registered in Belize. The team carries over 20 years of combined industry experience. It is not a US licensed operator and it does not hold UK regulatory certification. It is a crypto-first, internationally accessible platform that did not begin a trajectory toward the player neither established platform had — it started at the destination.
The game library got it right from day one for the player who needed genuine variety. ZunaBet carries 11,294 titles from 63 providers on launch day — not the starting point of a library building toward this number but the number the player needed from the moment they arrived. Evolution for the full live dealer catalogue. Pragmatic Play across multiple product categories. Hacksaw Gaming for the high-volatility mechanics experienced players seek. Yggdrasil for its distinctive design philosophy. BGaming for the crypto-native aesthetic. Sixty-three providers from the start means sixty-three different creative approaches producing content with different mechanics, different volatility profiles, and different visual identities — not a trajectory toward variety but variety from day one.
The sportsbook got it right from day one for the esports bettor. Football, basketball, tennis, NHL, and other major global sports alongside CS2, Dota 2, League of Legends, and Valorant as genuine primary markets from launch. Not a roadmap to esports coverage but esports coverage already in place. Virtual sports and combat sports complete an offering that served the full range of the modern player’s betting activity from the first day it was available.
The payment infrastructure got it right from day one for the crypto-native player. More than 20 cryptocurrencies supported natively — BTC, ETH, USDT across multiple chains, SOL, DOGE, ADA, XRP, and others. No platform processing fees. Withdrawals settling in minutes. Not an improvement trajectory toward crypto speed but crypto speed from the first withdrawal.
Apps across iOS, Android, Windows, and MacOS with 24-hour live chat support from launch.
Payments: Trajectory vs Starting Point
The payment comparison between the three platforms is a comparison between improvement trajectories and starting points.
DraftKings’ payment trajectory started at fiat banking and improved within it — faster options, more methods, Bitcoin in select states as a late addition. The trajectory never reached native crypto infrastructure because the starting point was too far from it to close the gap through iteration.
Bet365’s payment trajectory started at fiat banking and improved within it across 25 years — more reliable processes, more methods, marginal speed improvements. The trajectory never reached native crypto infrastructure for the same reason.
ZunaBet’s payment starting point was native crypto infrastructure. The trajectory question does not apply because the destination was the starting point. Twenty-plus coins from day one. Minutes from the first withdrawal. No trajectory required because no gap existed between where it started and where the player needed it to be.
Loyalty: Trajectory vs Starting Point
The loyalty comparison follows the same pattern.
DraftKings’ loyalty trajectory started at points accumulation and improved the points system over years — more redemption options, better tier descriptions, refined structures. The trajectory never left points because the starting point was points and the player the trajectory served was the points player.
Bet365’s loyalty trajectory built depth at the top and left the base shallow across 25 years. The trajectory served the VIP minority better over time. The general player’s trajectory was essentially flat.
ZunaBet’s loyalty starting point was the dragon evolution system — six tiers, Squire through Ultimate, with a gamified mascot called Zuno and direct rakeback rates of 1%, 2%, 4%, 5%, 10%, and 20% from day one. All tiers open from launch. All rates applying to all activity from the first session. No trajectory required from points to rakeback because rakeback was the starting point.
Twenty percent at the Ultimate tier from day one. Additional tier benefits — up to 1,000 free spins, VIP club access, double wheel spins — in place from launch. The player who needed transparent direct returns found them without waiting for a trajectory to arrive.
The Welcome Bonus
ZunaBet new players receive a bonus across three deposits totalling up to $5,000 plus 75 free spins. First deposit matched 100% up to $2,000 with 25 free spins. Second deposit matched 50% up to $1,500 with 25 spins. Third deposit matched 100% up to $1,500 with 25 spins.
DraftKings and Bet365 offer welcome promotions within their regulated markets. Terms vary by jurisdiction and should be confirmed directly on each platform.
What Getting It Right From Day One Means in 2026
DraftKings got better over years for the US sports bettor. The improvement trajectory produced a platform that continues to serve that player well. Bet365 got better over 25 years for the global sports bettor. The improvement trajectory produced a platform that continues to serve that player well.
ZunaBet got it right from day one for the player neither had. The crypto-native player. The esports bettor. The rakeback-understanding, large-library-needing, withdrawal-speed-sensitive player of 2026 whose requirements neither established platform’s improvement trajectory was pointed toward.
ZunaBet launched in 2026 and the honest caveat is that getting it right from day one is not the same as proving it right over years. The track record that improvement trajectories produce is real and it represents trust that a new platform is still building. Players should weigh that.
But the player who needed a platform built for them from day one rather than a platform that might eventually improve toward them — that player found it in 2026. That player found ZunaBet.
