Entain CFO: We won’t give up on hunting down FanDuel in US

BetMGM is not content with a number three position in the US and will not give up on chasing down and overtaking FanDuel as market leader, according to Entain CFO Rob Wood.

BetMGM is some way behind Flutter-owned FanDuel in the US market-share rankings and also sits behind DraftKings as the trio gear up for another intense customer acquisition battle in 2021.

When asked if BetMGM was satisfied with a podium position in the high-growth territory, Wood, who is also deputy CEO of Entain, said: “Definitely not, no. We always set out to be a leader with ambitions of getting to number one in due course, but there is no doubt that FanDuel has comfortably got number one sewn up for a while.”

BetMGM earned approximately 18% of market share across all US regulated states in 2020.

The brand is now live in 12 states and was the number one operator in US igaming for January 2021, according to Entain.

“If you look at latest numbers, we’re really not that far behind DraftKings once you take out their DFS business, so we absolutely have number two set in our sights,” added Wood.

Entain has taken a long-term view in the US and is confident its proprietary product and technology will have what it takes to win over American consumers.

Wood suggests this is already being proven in states like Tennessee where BetMGM launched on day one of the market going live, at the same time as rivals including FanDuel and DraftKings.

“If you look at the four states that came online for sports betting during this year, we were there at the start and our average market share is 27%, which is right up there,” Wood told EGR. “But we were late in states like New Jersey, for instance, where we didn’t launch our technology until September of 2019.

“Starting alongside everybody else is helpful, but actually, over the course of a couple of years, we’ve remained confident that the operator with the best technology and the best product will ultimately be the one with the highest market share. We see that in all our other markets around the world,” he added.

There is a fierce fight on in the US to acquire recreational sports bettors, demonstrated by the fact competing operators are prepared to spend millions of dollars and rack up huge annual losses. Entain and its rivals expect losses to mount in 2021, but the long-term pay off will be lucrative.

Despite this, Wood insists the race will be won on product, and not on brand recognition or price.

“In online sports betting and gaming, we [US operators] don’t really compete on price and we don’t really compete on brand,” he said. “The average customer has three or four apps on their phone and the one they default to is the one they enjoy using the most, usually due to the ease of navigation and the ease of depositing and withdrawing money. That sort of thing is what matters most.”

As an example, he adds: “Take New Jersey where we were late. At some point over the next two years, any sports betting customer will have downloaded the BetMGM app. We’ll have caught them on some promotion of their favorite basketball team or whatever it may be. At that point, we would expect to win business off FanDuel and DraftKings.”

During the 2020 financial year, BetMGM grew US online net gaming revenue by 140% to £128m ($178m) as Entain’s share of losses for the joint venture with MGM Resorts reached £60.6m ($43.7m).

“FanDuel have definitely got it sewn up for 2021 but we won’t give up trying to hunt them down,” said Wood.