One of the key verticals of the online betting industry, the global daily fantasy sports (DFS) market is expected to evolve from USD 20.36 billion in 2020 to USD 22.31 billion in 2021, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.5%, according to Research & Markets. This market research and data service’s report added that the fantasy sports market is set to reach USD 38.6 billion in 2025, at a CAGR of 14.7%. Daily Fantasy Sports require contest participants to draft a team across multiple games by selecting players by position listed in the available Player Pool, while remaining under the designated salary cap. Besides, the North America fantasy sports market is estimated to advance at a CAGR of 10.7% over the period 2021 to 2026. DFS has reportedly over 60 million users in the US and Canada. In terms of genres, a 2019 study reported 81% male and 19% female fantasy sports players.
Research & Markets explained this upsurge is mainly due to the increasing youth population, growth in digital infrastructure, availability of affordable smartphones, rising popularity of players in various sports, growing investment in Internet infrastructure, and the launch of fantasy sports applications. The consultancy also cited artificial intelligence (AI) as a main trend gaining acceptance in the fantasy sports market due to it being able to help a player focus on key decisions, such as who to start with and which players to trade.
While the study noted that North America was the largest region in the fantasy sports market in 2020, Asia Pacific is on course to be the fastest growing region in the forecast period. Besides, football, baseball, basketball, hockey and cricket were all listed as the main types of fantasy sports.
BIGGEST DFS COMPANIES
According to Vox Media, the DFS industry is currently dominated by two companies: DraftKings and FanDuel, who account for more than 90% of market share in the United States. While FanDuel was one of the chief movers in the DFS space and the clear business leader through early 2015, DraftKings has outdone it for the No. 1 spot, with Yahoo Daily Fantasy and FantasyDraft vying for No. 3.
DraftKings offers several contests for professional, collegiate and international leagues, and supports the broadest selection of sports categories in the industry. It has more than 4 million registered users for its DFS platform. Its daily fantasy sports product is available in 8 countries internationally, with 15 distinct sports categories. In the US, fans prefer to bet on DFS sports such as football, basketball and baseball. Recently, DraftKings’ product went live in Arizona (pending regulatory approval), which would make Arizona the 44th state to offer DraftKings Daily Fantasy Sports. Besides DraftKings, other operators like FanDuel, Fantasy Football Players Championship (FFPC), Yahoo, Fantasy Sports Shark and Underdog Sports have licenses to sign up players who build their own teams and wager on virtual games.
For its part, FanDuel Group has a presence across 45 states and 6 million customers. The company has about 400 employees and is based in New York, with offices in California, New Jersey, Florida, Oregon, and Scotland. FanDuel Group is a subsidiary of Flutter Entertainment, a well-recognized international sports betting and gaming operator. The Group is currently valued at approximately USD 14.4 billion, with revenues over USD 265 million annually.
In terms of marketing, in 2020, DraftKings, FanDuel and Bet365 spent more than USD 200 million. Apart from these companies, notable inroads in this space have included US broadcaster ESPN and technology giant IBM introducing a fantasy football app in September 2020, which used AI to generate fair transactions and keep players informed. Additionally, this week, Facebook made a move into fantasy sports with the launch of a new suite of free-to-play prediction games. The new Facebook Fantasy Games offering, which will initially be available in the US and Canada on the social media company’s app, will feature games spanning sports, TV shows and pop culture. Daily sports prediction game Pick & Play Sports is the first to launch on the platform, as part of a partnership with US media company Whistle Sports. Users will earn points for correctly predicting the winner of a game, the number of points scored by a player or specific events that unfold during a match.
As it can be seen, more and more companies are joining to operate in this online gambling segment that fascinates not only North American fans, but also those from all over the planet.