Fantasy sports have always been popular on a casual level. Sports fans around the world will create drafts, or play various free-to-play leagues with their friends or colleagues. But playing fantasy sports for money separates those who are only in it for, perhaps, pride, and those who genuinely consider it a true hobby. We caught up with GameBlazers CEO Rourke Struthers to find out more about the current state of the fantasy sports market. Speaking of the growing interest in fantasy sports betting, Struthers told Gambling Insider: “I think ultimately, sports betting, sports gambling, DFS (daily fantasy sports), fantasy-stylecompetitions and things like that aren’t going to go away. I think they’re only going to become more prolific as more and morestates continue to write regulations in.”
He continued: “I think that as we continue to grow, as those regulations continue to pick up across different states, I think you’ll see a big change of consumer behaviour from – maybe not necessarily from a betting side to a playing side – but I think maybe from a playing side to a betting side.”
Safeguarding younger players
With most fantasy sports being a free-to-play game that can be aimed at teenagers and most operators’ aims being to convertfree players into paid players, there have to be precautions in place to ensure those players don’t enter the realms of bettinguntil it’s legal for them to do so.
To help with this, geofencing can be a good method to keep track of players and regulations as, if you’re not in that particularlocation, you can’t utilise the site. Different verification methods can also be used to regulate the paid side of fantasy sports,such as verifying your identity. Linking geofencing and KYC together, if you’re in an unregulated state, the geofence won’t allow you to participate, let alone get to the verification stage.
Verifying customer accounts also helps create data to see what age range fantasy sports is appealing to prevent players fromtrying to circumvent the system in any way. Speaking about GameBlazers’ integrity systems, Struthers stated: “We haveconstant monitoring that’s going on on the site. So if you’re doing something you probably shouldn’t, we’ll pick up on it.”
FanDuel and DraftKings dominating the market
The Fantasy Sports and Gaming Association states that as of June 2023, over 81 million adults across the US and Canada now participate in legal sports wagering and fantasy sports
As for market share, FanDuel and DraftKings dominate, holding around 90% of the fantasy sports market, as they currently provide DFS in 45 states. States in which they don’t provide their services (due to state-specific regulations against cash prizeawards) include Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana and Washington.
However, new operators are coming to market. ESPN Bet recently signed a 10-year agreement with Penn Entertainment tolaunch a multi-platform online sportsbook in 16 states, with ESPN being famous for its existing fantasy database. Betr has launched Betr Picks, where you can pick more or less for your favourite fantasy players’ stats to win up to 100x your entry.
Struthers comments: “I can only hope that over time ESPN Bet and those users come to play GameBlazers. I’m hoping thatwe can all set this fantasy sports gaming industry on fire.”
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said during the company’s Q2 earnings call: “DFS has had a great year. We’ve made improvements to the products – a really exciting year for DFS and we are continually adding more customers. We’ve seen really strong crossover for DFS in new states and it continues to be a source of new engagement.”
Clearly, the competition is stepping up to reach demand. The Fantasy Sports and Gaming Association states that as of June2023, over 81 million adults across the US and Canada now participate in legal sports wagering and fantasy sports. In the USthis represents a 7% increase in total bettors/players since 2022 and 26% growth compared to 2021.
New competition evening out the market
Upping the competition are the likes of StatHero, PrizePicks, Underdog Fantasy, Betr and more. Recently, FanDuel’s SeniorDirector of State Government Relations, Cesar Fernandez, made certain accusations: “There are companies today posing asfantasy sports operators, and they are running illegal sportsbooks” during a panel at the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS) summer meeting.
Underdog Fantasy CEO Jeremy Levine clapped back at the FanDuel Senior Director with an open letter to its customers,suggesting that FanDuel just wants to keep its position in the market and rid of any potential competition: “When the Supreme Court later permitted states to legalise sports betting, DraftKings, FanDuel and their lobbyists went to work. But this time they wrote laws designed to make it hard for innovators to break into the brand new sports betting industry. The strategy worked and they had a near instant monopoly, capturing nearly 80% of the US sports betting market,” Levine wrote.
“But Underdog and other companies innovating in fantasy sports and sports betting threaten their monopoly. They’ve seen ourcompany, and others, produce superior products, more exciting user experiences, and begin to challenge them for sports fans’attention – and they’re scared that we will challenge their market positions. We’re already bigger than they are in fantasy. Frankly, they should be scared.” So the big question is: is there enough of the fantasy pie for everyone to take a slice?
