Fanatics targeting late 2023 rollout for online casino product
Operator aiming to bring similar innovation to igaming as sports betting
The rapid rise of Fanatics Sportsbook has represented one of the key storylines across the US gaming landscape through the first few of the new football season, but sports betting isn’t the sole focus for the emerging operator.
According to Fanatics Betting & Gaming chief business officer Ari Borod, the company is hard at work in the lab on its icasino product and is targeting a rollout as soon as the end of the year.
Appearing on US Bets’ Gamble On podcast, Borod detailed Fanatics’ bigger-picture ambitions, asserting the company’s goal is ultimately to be a top-tier operator, meaning it will need to serve its gaming customers as comprehensively and holistically as possible.
Online casino, which is currently regulated and available in six states, is clearly part of that equation, with Borod confirming it “will definitely be part of our long-term strategy.”
“If there are people who want to play online blackjack on their phone, we don’t want them going to a competitor to do it because we want them to continue engaging with Fanatics,” Borod said. “So we’re obviously going to have to have that, to give the customer what they want. It’s definitely a part of the strategy.”
Borod did note, however, that sports betting remains the operator’s primary focus and Fanatics could push its icasino launch into early 2024 “if we don’t feel it’s perfect yet.”
Fanatics’ online sportsbook, which is currently live in Ohio, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Tennessee, has already begun to stake its claim as a serious player in the space. Among US sports betting apps, it notched a 14% download share in tandem with recently acquired PointsBet during the first week of the NFL season per Sensor Tower.
“Fanatics is really a sports business,” Borod explained. “And so first and foremost, that is what we’re going out with. We want to make sure this is another thing we can add to the Fanatics ecosystem of products.
“But longer term, as a gaming company, icasino obviously is a very good business.”
Of the six states that offer regulated igaming, Fanatics has market access to four of them – New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and West Virginia – through PointsBet.