FanDuel Close to Dominant Share, Controls 50 Percent of US Sports Betting

Posted on: July 10, 2021, 03:04h. 

Last updated on: July 10, 2021, 06:08h.

Todd Shriber @etfgodfather Read More
Expertise: Financial, Gaming Business, Mergers and Acquisitions.

FanDuel controls the largest percentage of US online sports wagering market. But recent data points suggest that the operator’s share is growing, and could be as high as half the fastest-growing internet sports betting market in the world.

FanDuel
Employees at a FanDuel sportsbook. The company controls half the US online sports betting market. (Image: Wayne Parry/Associated Press)

In a recent report, Daniel Stone, head of data content at Gambling Compliance, reviews online sports betting (OSB) market share in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and West Virginia. The report indicates FanDuel is boosting its market-leading position in significant fashion.

We estimate that FanDuel’s national online market share soared to around 50 percent in May, vs 36 percent in Q1 and 39 percent in 2020,” said Stone.

Colorado, where FanDuel is operational, and Nevada — the second-largest sports betting market in the country — weren’t included in those data points.

For FanDuel, ‘Timing Couldn’t Be Better’

There’s never a bad time for good news, and that’s particularly true in the case of FanDuel. That’s because parent company Flutter Entertainment (OTC:PDYPY) continues mulling a spin-off of its premier US asset to public investors.

UK-based Flutter, which also owns Paddy Power and PokerStars, among other gaming brands, is drawing favor among analysts due in large part to its 95 percent ownership of FanDuel. Boyd Gaming (NYSE:BYD) owns the other five percent. So coveted is FanDuel that it’s also the source of some legal drama for the parent company.

Fox Corp. (NASDAQ:FOXA) in March filed a suit against Flutter in New York’s Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services (JAMS) regarding the pricing of an 18.5 percent slice of FanDuel it has rights to acquire. That litigation is still pending. Legal issues aside, it’s hard to ignore that FanDuel is hitting a groove at just the right time.

“FanDuel continues to outperform, and the timing couldn’t be better. US sports betting is gearing up for what is likely to be the most bet-on football season in history, and FanDuel is positioning itself for a big win,” said Roundhill Investments analyst Matias Dorta in a note.

Dorta adds he’s monitoring whether or not the operator is proving especially adept at luring baseball, basketball, and soccer bettors, or if the company is attracting sticky new customers. If it’s the latter, FanDuel could be poised for big things during football season, said the Roundhill analyst.

More FanDuel Kudos

Perhaps one of the reasons FanDuel is taking share from rivals is that its mobile app is the best of the lot. That’s according to Eilers & Krejcik, which noted as much in the most recent edition of its bi-weekly EKG Line report.

“FanDuel, yet again, was the best-performing app in our 31-app testing universe. FanDuel’s app simply did everything well, and its seamlessly integrated same-game parlay product continued to resonate with our testers,” according to the research firm.

Combine the best app with rapidly growing market share, and it’s possible that if Flutter proceeds with spinning off FanDuel, the operator would command the highest valuation among all publicly traded sportsbook operators.