A new market reality in U.S. online gambling is emerging as DraftKings has overtaken incumbent leader FanDuel for the overall market share lead, suggesting more change to come in the still-developing market.
In August, DraftKings took the U.S. online gambling lead, according to a new study by prominent research entity Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, capturing 31% of overall gross gaming revenue compared to FanDuel’s 30%. FanDuel had been the clear American market leader for several years.
The figure includes revenue from both sports betting and other online casino games. For sports betting specifically, FanDuel still has a 39.3% market share lead compared to DraftKings’ 34.1%. But the leadership flip in overall gaming revenue marks a key inflection point in the still-developing U.S. wagering market.
“[This] is a major move that signals a shifting competitive landscape — one that we believe will continue to shift as big new brands Fanatics and ESPN Bet begin to ramp,” Eilers & Krejcik said.
To that end, ESPN Bet is set for a November debut of its new Sportsbook in partnership with PENN Entertainment, while Fanatics is continuing to integrate its recently acquired PointsBet assets.
Company Escalation
Those two entities represent perhaps the greatest threat yet to the established DraftKings-FanDuel market duopoly, but DraftKings said it is not planning to yield its leadership position.
“We enjoy the chart, but no one is anywhere close to satisfied yet at DraftKings!,” DraftKings co-founder Matt Kalish posted on X.
The company plans to release its next set of financial results on Nov. 2, and its stock has risen more than 144% this year, fueled in part by the market share gains and a reining in of its much-debated marketing and customer-acquisition costs.
“DraftKings’ ability to reel in FanDuel speaks to a company that is stepping away from squishy narratives and harnessing the power of more focused, disciplined execution,” Eilers & Krejcik said.
