Operator Tracker Q2 2024 US: Signs of challenger brands starting to make a dent

A brief look at FairPlay’s US Operator Tracker data for Q2 2024 demonstrates a market maturing at a notable, sustainable pace.

The big two, DraftKings and FanDuel, continue to dominate brand awareness but their advantage isn’t as solid as it once was, with competing brands, including Fanatics and BetMGM, starting to build their own footprint and realise the rewards of ongoing marketing campaigns.

While DraftKings and FanDuel still lead the way by some margin when looking at metrics such as ‘Awareness’ and ‘Regular usage’, those looking to compete with them are seeing a significant uptick in both areas.

Over the past three quarters, BetMGM has increased its brand awareness by 69% to 74%, with Fanatics jumping a considerable 37% to 49% in the same period.

DraftKings remains out front on 85% when it comes to ‘Awareness’, and the Boston-based group and FanDuel have by far and away the strongest ‘Regular usage’ figures: 55% and 51% respectively, compared to third-placed BetMGM on 27%, and a cluster of brands including ESPN Bet, Fanatics, and bet365 hovering about 14%.

However, we’re seeing these growing brands chipping away at the dominant players, whose usage figures in a steady decline. FairPlay data shows that DraftKings and FanDuel saw a peak in regular usage during Q1 2024 and a small decline in Q2 — for FanDuel in particular.

This has coincided with a spike in active usership at their nearest competitor BetMGM, but more drastically Fanatics, which is showing signs of a rapid trajectory up the ladder.

Internally, this trend was expected and correlates with usage patterns that we have seen across other maturing markets. Resource-heavy acquisition campaigns aren’t sustainable for the medium term.

These campaigns play a part in the education of the second wave of bettors, who may be taking a more considered approach to their choice of betting brand. This could explain the narrowing of awareness and usage figures between the top performing brands and mid-market ones, who we might expect to see continue taking a foothold across regulated states.

Looking purely at the top of the market, FairPlay data is starting to show a small but legitimate lead being taken by DraftKings over its main competitor FanDuel. The former has opened a 4% lead in terms of regular usage (55% versus 51%), and perhaps more significant is the fact that more FanDuel users regularly use DraftKings, rather than the other way round.

As we saw last quarter, there is still very little differentiation between most brands’ key perceptions. This demonstrates growth opportunities for both leading and challenger brands to create a recognisable brand identity that resonates broadly, or with a specific audience.

Across most brand perceptions, we continue to see a theme of DraftKings opening up a lead over FanDuel, with recent gains in ‘Promos, free bets & offers’, where it has a 10% advantage, and the ‘Rewards customers’ metric, where it holds the same lead, particularly striking.

Key events playing a role

Q2 2024 saw the finals of the 2023-24 NBA season, the early stages of the 2024 MLB season, and perhaps less notably for the market, the end of the European domestic soccer season and the start of international tournaments, Euro 2024 and Copa América 2024, which took place in the US.

DraftKings and FanDuel remain tied in terms of brand favouritism amongst NBA bettors, both on 33% and well clear of BetMGM in third on 12%. DraftKings does have a significant advantage when it comes to MLB bettors, where it holds a 9% lead on FanDuel, and on soccer betting, where it’s 33% favoritism score is clear of FanDuel’s 24%.

It could be argued that the focus on these sports during Q2 has played a part in the wider trends seen by the two leading brands, although there are many other variables still playing out in this dynamic market that will likely be steering audience perceptions and activity.

EGR North America and FairPlay Sports Media have partnered to bring a data-led, quarterly report on brand perception of leading firms in the sector. These insights are produced by FairPlay Sports Media senior customer insights manager Peter Morris.

Morris has more than a decade of experience working in market research, starting his career working at agencies Ipsos Mori and then 2CV, with a particular focus on brand and marketing research projects.

In 2018, Morris joined what was then Oddschecker, focusing on UK product and marketing insight. Since then he has expanded his role, heading up customer insight within FairPlay Sports Media, providing intel across all their operations and territories.