EGR US Power Rankings 2021 – in numbers
EGR North America reveals the key figures from this year’s rankings, including the highest climber and the mere handful of private companies featured
This week we unveiled the latest version of the industry’s only comprehensive list of top performing online gambling operators in the US market.
Below, we’ve selected some of the key takeaways from the third edition of the EGR US Power Rankings:
11
Penn National Gaming won the coveted prize of this year’s highest climber, having leapt 11 spots to number seven. The operator secured a 13% market share in Pennsylvania in December via its Barstool Sportsbook, while PNG’s partnership with Barstool Sports has enabled it to successfully steal share and also grow the Pennsylvania online betting market organically, with an almost non-existent marketing budget. Expect PNG to move swiftly into new states this year as it plays catch-up with peers.
3
2020 was certainly the year of the SPAC as three of the top five operators merged with Special Purpose Acquisition Companies to fast-track public listings and secure significant private investment to help grow their businesses and bulk up their marketing budgets. DraftKings was the first to kick off this trend by merging with Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp back in December 2019 and acquiring European betting platform SBTech in the process. Golden Nugget followed, announcing a reverse merger with Landcadia Holdings II in June, before RSI joined the party via its deal with dMY Technology in July. Expect more industry SPACs to snap up gambling startups this year.
6
Six operators fell short of making the 2021 rankings after they entered the online sports betting fray relatively late compared to others and have yet to gain much market share. Bally’s, Betfred Sports, Smarkets, Tipico, theScore, and WynnBet are this year’s ‘ones to watch’. Bally’s has perhaps made the most noise of the six, having acquired betting supplier Bet.Works, DFS operator Monkey Knife Fight, and free-to-play games provider SportsCaller in the last five months. Its latest bid for London-listed online operator Gamesys has potential to be transformational and should help secure Bally’s a respectable position in next year’s list.
4
Atlantic City casino mainstay Resorts Digital dropped four places this year as it struggled to compete with others on New Jersey online casino revenue. Resorts wasn’t the only New Jersey-only operator to slip down the list, as Tropicana, Mohegan Sun, Pala Interactive, and Ocean Casino Resort also tumbled. As competition intensifies and the top five operators seize more and more market share between them, it is likely that those failing to expand outside of New Jersey will lose their place on the list.
9
Hard Rock is the highest ranked private company in this year’s list, coming in at number nine. Six of the 20 operators featured are private companies, which is interesting considering the industry’s vast growth in the US, and how desperate operators are to secure capital. Expect bet365 to be one of the last private companies standing as the market matures.
