America’s Obsession with Daily Fantasy Sports
Daily Fantasy Sports or DFS first appeared in 2007 as an accelerated version of the traditional fantasy sports that had taken the USA by storm in the early 2000s. Since then the DFS industry has grown to a market value of over $3 billion. And this is expected to grow further as more states legislate for DFS and open regulated markets.
So it’s no secret that DFS contests are hugely popular in the United States, but why is that the case? How has the DFS industry enjoyed such wild success that it has become just as valuable as the industry that spawned it?
What are DFS games?
Much like regular fantasy sports games, DFS games follow the same rules and stipulations such as transfer budgets and salary caps. However, while fantasy sports are played out over an entire season DFS games are, you guessed it, played out over a single day or a round of games.
DFS games will also typically come in the form of a paid contest where the winner or winners receive a share in a predetermined pot that is made up of player entry fees.
Why are they so popular?
As we all know, nothing quite beats the feeling of topping the league at the end of a round of games, with the exception of winning the league outright that is. But imagine starting every round of games on an even footing. No 200-point gap to make up as you strive to catch the player above you in the league. Now imagine topping the round of games with the most points scored and getting a cash prize for doing so.
That’s the reality of DFS games and what makes them so very popular in the United States. Think about it this way—a regular season NBA and NHL season has around 82 games and that’s before we talk about the playoffs. For traditional fantasy sports, that’s a seriously long haul season and one that all but the most diehard of fantasy sports enthusiasts would likely tire of midway.
In the past, this made fantasy sports a hobby that only the truly devoted sport fan had any interest in taking up. Then along came DFS and everything changed. Here was the chance for casual sports fans and gamblers to pick a team, watch a round of games, and potentially win some cash.
FanDuel starts the party
The DFS party really kicked off with the launch of FanDuel’s DFS platform in 2009. FanDuel and its extensive marketing of DFS contests helped to kickstart fantasy sports and bring the casual sports fans into the industry. For three years, FanDuel had it all its own way until a new player emerged in 2012. That new player was DraftKings and the two operators’ hard-fought rivalry took the industry to new heights.
At the time of writing, FanDuel is the leader in the market with an incredible 12 million registered users. Meanwhile DraftKings is still playing catch up with around 8 million registered users. There are around 53 million fantasy sports players in the US, so this is a sizable market share for both operators.
Interestingly, not all of these users are DFS players as both companies have diversified to now become the two largest sports betting operators in the United States. They have even entered the online casino industry and, according to casino review website USACasinoSites, both are considered among the best legal options for gambling on fantasy sports in the US market.
DFS partnerships keep it going
Another reason for the rise of DFS contests in the USA is the simple fact that they’re everywhere. You can’t watch a game in any of the country’s major leagues without seeing at least one ad for FanDuel or DraftKings.
That’s because since they launched, both operators have signed partnership deals with multiple professional sports teams and leagues. From the NFL to the NBA, NHL to MLB—if there’s a team in the league, the chances are it’s partnered with either DraftKings or FanDuel. And this visibility at games is set to increase even further with the legalization of sports betting across the United States. The truth is, FanDuel and DraftKings don’t just control the game, in many ways they are the game.
DFS contests have also become so popular that practically every media organization has some kind of involvement in the industry. This is most often through programming and content that is tailored to the DFS player. They provide articles, player analysis, TV shows, pre-game programming, and even podcasts designed to help the DFS player pick their team based on the right data.
What about here in the UK?
Daily fantasy sports contests are already available here in the UK, but as fantasy sports had already broken into the mainstream prior to their arrival, there was no major market gap to bridge.
For this reason, DFS contests haven’t really taken off as much as operators had hoped they would. It seems that the average English football fan is more interested in testing their abilities over an entire season than a single round of games. For now, it seems that DFS contests will remain an American obsession.
