DraftKings Inc., which has played second fiddle in online gambling to rival FanDuel in recent years, has taken the top spot in US market share, an analyst said.
(Bloomberg) — DraftKings Inc., which has played second fiddle in online gambling to rival FanDuel in recent years, has taken the top spot in US market share, an analyst said.
The Boston-based company has gained share steadily since acquiring Golden Nugget Online Gaming last year, according to researcher Eilers & Krejcik Gaming. DraftKings garnered a 31% share of online US gross gambling revenue in the third quarter, passing FanDuel at 30%, Eilers said.
The numbers include revenue from both sports betting and online casino games like blackjack. Based on sports-betting revenue alone, FanDuel is still the leader with a 39.3% share over the past three months, compared with DraftKings’ 34.1%, although the latter has been gaining over the past year.
Sports betting has exploded in the US since 2018, when the Supreme Court allowed such gambling to expand beyond Nevada. Some 36 states now allow sports betting, with the business generating more $10 billion in revenue over the past 12 months, according to market researcher Vixio.
FanDuel and DraftKings, pioneers in the business of fantasy sports games, used their customer databases to launch successful sports-wagering operations.
FanDuel, which became part of Irish bookmaker Flutter Entertainment Plc in 2018, benefited from its parent company’s experience in Europe and took an early lead. It dominated initially by offering parlays, bets involving multiple outcomes, that generated more revenue than traditional win or lose bets.
“It’s a combination of factors, but one overarching factor would be FanDuel losing some of its first-mover advantage in same game parlays,” said James Kilsby, chief analyst at Vixio Regulatory Intelligence. Other operators, including DraftKings, now offer such bets.
Golden Nugget was particularly strong in the online casino business in New Jersey. That state was among the first to embrace both online casino games and sports wagering.
DraftKings took the lead in New Jersey in August, according to Vixio. It was also able to capture the lead in its home state of Massachusetts.
DraftKings is expected to announce financial results on Nov. 2.
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