US Sports Betting Market Monitor: BetMGM most likely challenger to FanDuel’s US crown

According to the latest report from Eilers & Krejcik Gaming (EKG), BetMGM is the most likely operator to threaten FanDuel’s market-leading position in US online sports betting.

FanDuel has led the US sports betting industry for several quarters, boasting market share of more than 40% since Q2 2021.

According to EKG, there are a plethora of reasons for the brand’s dominance stateside, beginning with its superior product offering.

FanDuel’s sports betting app has consistently come in ahead of competitors during EKG’s proprietary tests, as the product “tends to do everything just a little better than rivals – it’s faster, more intuitive, has more depth in same-game parlays, more markets, better ordering, and faster in-play,” the report says.

The Flutter Entertainment-owned brand has also benefitted from its daily fantasy (DFS) origins, carrying over its audience of “sports-mad, tech savvy customers with funded wallets” to its sportsbook following the repeal of PASPA in 2018.

Further, the operator benefits from a team boasting broad experience in European online gambling markets, the scale to effectively manage its presence across different states with varying requirements for operators, and strong brand recognition across the US.

As a result of its many advantages, only a handful of brands stand a chance of being able to compete with FanDuel in the long term, according to EKG.

Former DFS rival DraftKings is one such business, boasting several of the same advantages as FanDuel thanks to its long-standing presence in fantasy sports.

Eilers & Krejcik Gaming: “The FanDuel app tends to do everything just a little better than rivals – it’s faster, more intuitive, has more depth in same-game parlays, more markets, better ordering, and faster in-play.”

Caesars is another business with the required cash and brand recognition to have a chance at challenging the brand, although it should be noted the casino giant recently scaled back its efforts in the online sports betting space.

Other plausible challengers – which nonetheless remain a long way behind FanDuel in the existing market rankings – include PointsBet, bet365 and Fanatics, which is expected to launch its first sports betting operations in early 2023.

Overall, however, EKG has determined that MGM Resorts- and Entain-owned joint venture BetMGM is the likeliest brand to challenge FanDuel’s dominance.

Currently ranked third for market share in US online sports betting, BetMGM boasts the institutional knowledge and scale required to become a genuine challenger to the market leader, EKG said, not to mention its leadership in iGaming. 

The brand has a market share of around 15% over the past three months, up from around 13% over the trailing 12-month period. Those gains, however, do not appear to have been made at FanDuel’s expense.

BetMGM’s product, expertise and execution will continue on an upward trajectory, EKG said, but the uncertain future created by the brand’s joint ownership does present a potential hurdle.

In order to close the gap between itself and FanDuel, the report says BetMGM may need to resolve questions around, for example, how much of Entain’s European talent is dedicated to helping the business grow, and whether differing company cultures have slowed down the decision making process.

In the meantime, however, “FanDuel enjoys just about every conceivable advantage in US OSB – from institutional knowledge to scale, from product quality to brand equity.”

With the brand expected to become profitable in the US for the full year 2023, FanDuel’s dominance shows no signs of slowing down, as the latest numbers from New York clearly demonstrate.