EGR US Power Rankings 2021
Welcome to the third edition of the EGR US Power Rankings, the online gambling industry’s go-to listing of the most dominant players storming the US’ exploding sector.
Please note, the following rankings are solely comprised of online operators and do not take into account land-based revenues.
1. Flutter Entertainment (1)
With the completion of its merger with The Stars Group last May, it probably doesn’t come as any surprise to discover Flutter has finished atop 2021’s edition of the US Power Rankings. Indeed, the amalgamation of the two companies has provided “unparalleled scale and diversification,” Flutter said, supported by a bulging portfolio of formidable brands in the US: FanDuel, PokerStars, Fox Bet, TVG, and Betfair. The jewel in the Dublin-headquartered gambling giant’s crown remains FanDuel, which Flutter increased its stake in to 95% last December.
FanDuel Sportsbook saw stakes surge 86% in constant currency year on year (YOY) during 2020 to £4.4bn ($6.1bn), culminating in a 42% YOY rise in revenue to £458m ($637m). Despite Covid-19’s hit to sport, Flutter’s total US revenue across the group was £695m ($896m), which management was keen to stress in the full-year earnings call was 40% more than its nearest rival. In fact, it eclipsed the revenue of its nearest two competitors combined. “We are, by a distance, the largest online operator in the US today,” CEO Peter Jackson (pictured) confidently told analysts in early March.
The Fox Bet brand, which targets a more recreational cohort, has noticeably struggled to make a meaningful impression, although its free-to-play predictor game, Super 6, is a helpful acquisition tool. It has more than 4.4 million registered players nationwide and is responsible for a quarter of Fox Bet’s customer base where betting is legal. Furthermore, horseracing betting and TV network TVG, which is live in 33 states, enjoyed a record year as average monthly players increased 60% and doubled its share of the overall racing market to 20%.
Flutter forecasts its TAM (total addressable market) in the US will surpass $20bn by 2025, yet the unwavering goal is to maintain that number one spot, with Jackson insisting the operator will not settle for a “podium position.” “We are determined to invest to win that gold medal,” he said. However, by next year’s rankings FanDuel could have been spun off as a separate company as Flutter’s board comes under increasing pressure from investors to cash in on what they perceive to be an undervalued asset. That scenario would sure shake things up for the 2022 edition of the US Power Rankings.
10
Number of online sports betting states where FanDuel is present
41%
Bettors converted from DFS since September 2018
£237m
Online gaming revenue in 2020, a 292% rise YOY
45%
FanDuel Sportsbook’s estimated market share in New Jersey
3
States where PokerStars is live (NJ, PA, MI)
2. DraftKings (2)
The past 12 months at DraftKings couldn’t be described as uneventful. The highlight for the Boston-based sports betting, igaming, and DFS operator was going public via a reverse merger and acquiring SBTech in the process. Since the float last April, Nasdaq-listed DraftKings has been a darling tech stock as its price has rocketed around 250% at the time of writing. Moreover, the nine-year-old business currently has an eye-watering market cap of $25.3bn, up from $6bn when the SPAC’s ticker switched to DKNG.
Now live with its sportsbook in 12 states, which represents a quarter of the US population, DraftKings has positioned itself at the forefront of the proliferating sector with a market share of around 30%. The operator is also a force to be reckoned with within the four states where it offers igaming, achieving a hearty 19% slice of the overall pie. This is particularly impressive when you consider DraftKings didn’t launch online casino until December 2018 in New Jersey, some five years after other incumbents.
Besides releasing a standalone casino app in 2020, investment has been made in building in-house games, including sports-themed table games. Proprietary titles accounted for more than half (54%) of igaming handle, while DraftKings’ cross-sell capabilities were reflected in the fact 57% of its sportsbook users in New Jersey, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania placed an igaming bet in 2020. Meanwhile, on the DFS side, the firm reported huge year on year growth during the NFL season and launched 19 new sports and game types last year, driving $120m in entry fees from its five million paid DFS user database.
DraftKings revealed in February that Q4 2020 revenue reached $322m – a 98% YOY jump on a pro forma basis. B2C monthly unique players (MUPs) rose 44% to 1.5 million and average revenue from MUPs increased 55% to $65. However, the operator continues to rack up huge losses in its pursuit to lead the US; Q4 net loss was $266m, while adjusted EBITDA was -$88m. Although full-year 2021 revenue guidance has been raised to $900m-$1bn, a real acid test comes in Q3 with the migration of its sportsbook to its in-house platform. This complicated transition could prove pivotal for this ambitious operator’s fortunes going forward.
12
Number of states the mobile DraftKings Sportsbook is live in
98%
YOY rise in Q4 revenue on a pro forma basis to $322m
$65
ARPMUP in Q4, a YOY increase of 55%
26.7%
DraftKings Sportsbook’s estimated market share in NJ
$1.8bn
Cash reserves
3. BetMGM (4)
Encompassing the BetMGM, Borgata, partypoker, and PartyCasino brands, the Entain and MGM Resorts JV scored second highest among the judges, particularly with regards to brand exposure and responsible gambling measures. The operator claims to have secured 18% of the entire US online gaming market in Q4 after having entered five new states in the three months to 31 January 2021. Eilers & Krejcik Gaming’s (EKG) New Jersey estimates place the brand at the top of the pile in terms of online casino market share last year at 20%, ahead of its nearest challenger on 17%, Betfair-FanDuel.
Launches in both Tennessee and Michigan in recent months have seriously improved BetMGM’s position in the States and prompted Entain CFO Rob Wood to threaten to dethrone FanDuel as market leader in sports betting. In the latter state, BetMGM has comfortably led the igaming market with a 34% share ($27m) in February. It also seized the second spot in online betting during the state’s first full month of operation.
The operator has surpassed former Entain CEO Kenny Alexander’s 10%-15% market share target thanks in part to leveraging the MGM M life Rewards loyalty program, which accounted for 17% of new customers at the end of 2020. Converting these brick-and-mortar customers has led to lower-than-expected CPAs and, ultimately, a year-end net gaming revenue for BetMGM of $178m across retail and digital. “BetMGM’s key competitive advantage is its ability to leverage MGM destinations, broad-based experiential offerings and our loyalty program as efficient and effective customer acquisition tools,” CEO Adam Greenblatt told analysts in January.
Greenblatt has hailed the JV’s operational growth a key component for its success this past year, as its US staff-count grew exponentially. A year on from making the switch to Entain’s bwin platform, BetMGM’s tech staffers are able to spend the majority of their time scaling and building out the US offering.
Entain is making great strides in responsible gambling via its not-for-profit foundation. The program supports education for professional and college-level athletes about damaging betting behaviors in partnership with consultancy Epic Risk Management. The operator was also among the first to sign up to the multi-state self-exclusion scheme, PlayPause. Judging by recent progress, breaking into the top two of the US Power Rankings next year is a real possibility.
138k
New BetMGM app users in Michigan between January 22 and 31
<$200
CPAs the operator has reported for Michigan
17%
New BetMGM sign-ups coming from M life loyalty scheme
23.7%
Estimated BetMGM online casino GGR market share for the three months to February
140%
YOY increase in online NGR for FY 2020
4. Rush Street Interactive (3)
RSI dropping a place in the rankings is by no means reflective of its performance in the last 12 months, but rather serves to highlight the market’s fast pace, fierce competition, and perhaps the benefit of a colossal marketing budget.
The online arm of the Chicago-based casino company’s 2020 annual revenue impressively soared 337% YOY to $278.5m, while maintaining a restrained marketing spend of $56.5m ($28.3m in 2019), or 20% of revenue, which is basically pennies compared to its peers above. However, RSI was among very few operators to report positive adjusted EBITDA ($4.4m) during 2020, and was the second-largest online casino brand by GGR, according to EKG estimates.
RSI raised its 2021 revenue forecast from $320m to $420m-$460m, on higher than expected marketing returns. Monthly active users across RSI’s BetRivers and PlaySugarHouse products have grown 165% YOY, while the average revenue per customer was up to $341 from $222 in 2019. As the third US operator to IPO via a SPAC in 2020, RSI was listed on the NYSE in December, and currently has a market cap of $3.3bn. It pledged to use the newfound public capital to improve on and scale the parts of its technology stack that sit in-house, namely its PAM, igaming platform, business intelligence, marketing, and customer services functions.
RSI president Richard Schwartz believes the operator can maintain a top spot in the US by leveraging this proprietary tech and focusing its efforts largely on igaming over sports betting. It is now live with online casino in three states and eight with sports betting. In 2021, Schwartz promises to launch an entirely new user-friendly iOS app, and one of the industry’s first real-money-gambling Google Play offerings.
It’s expecting to shift from its PlaySugarHouse brand in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, with its casino product to fall under the BetRivers brand. Its first step in this switch was renaming and rebranding its SugarHouse Casino in Philadelphia to Rivers Casino in 2019. The move included an investment of $15m and a redesigned online casino product. At the time, CEO Greg Carlin said the investment would pave the way for a unified brand platform.
337%
Revenue growth in 2020 compared with the previous year
$3.3bn
Market cap at time of writing
165%
Average monthly active user YOY growth in 2020
$341
Average revenue per monthly active user in 2020
$23.1m
Advertising and promotional costs in Q4 2020
5) Golden Nugget Online Gaming (5)
Golden Nugget Online Gaming (GNOG) maintains fifth position in this year’s rankings, which is testament to the casino-centric and well-known brand’s prominent position in New Jersey’s mature and congested igaming market. EKG estimated its online casino share in 2020 to be a respectable 11% (fourth spot). GNOG, which has secured market access in 10 states (~26% of the US population), was part of the coordinated Michigan launch on January 22 this year through its partnership with Ojibwa Casino. Straight out of the gate, GNOG was recording $2m in daily casino wagers, while the first full month of igaming GGR matched the GGR achieved at the end of its third year in New Jersey.
GNOG recently made the switch from DraftKings-owned sports betting supplier SBTech to Scientific Games to power what has hitherto been its underperforming online sportsbook (around 0.2% market share in New Jersey). With the stickiness of its casino product, underscored by analysts highlighting GNOG’s industry-leading player LTVs being three times greater than DraftKings’, cross-selling loyal casino players into sports remains the goal – and challenge.
Like DraftKings and RSI, GNOG also went public in 2020. And much like its aforementioned rivals, the process involved a SPAC (Lancadia Holdings II, Inc.) as GNOG was spun out of Landry’s-owned brick-and-mortar casino Golden Nugget. Net revenue for FY 2020 leapt 64% to $91.1m, while adjusted EBITDA was $29m, the firm revealed. Holding onto president Thomas Winter and vice-president of product and operations Warren Steven – both of whom have been with the online operator since 2013 – is a big plus.
$91.1m
NGR for FY 2020, a rise of 64% over the previous year
$2.2k
GNOG players’ average LTV (GGR) in Year 1, rising to ~$7.7k in Year 5 and ~$11k in Year 7, the firm predicts
6) Caesars Interactive (6)
The most significant development these past 12 months for Caesars Interactive was parent company Caesars Entertainment undertaking a successful takeover bid for UK-listed operator William Hill. The $3.7bn deal, which is expected to complete in April and will see the international part of the 87-year-old bookmaker sold off, could be transformational for Caesars as the land-based giant and household name looks to stamp its authority on the exploding US sports betting scene.
As things stand, the William Hill and Caesars JV is currently live with online sports betting in more than a dozen states, as well as Washington DC, and they expect to be up and running in 20 jurisdictions by the end of the year. So far, the Caesars sportsbook brand specifically has struggled to make headway, though, amassing a 0.44% sliver of the online sports betting market according to EKG in what is the most mature state of New Jersey.
On the casino side, EKG says Caesars has an online casino market share of almost 6% (sixth spot), a state the operator has been present in since the outset in 2013. It lifts to just over 7% if including the Harrah’s brand.
However, Caesars’ scores from the judges were dragged down by low marks in a few categories, with product being the one area the panel felt needed improvement. Finally, the company’s 888-powered WSOP poker product is poised to capitalize on online poker’s expansion now that the vertical seems to be unshackled from the DOJ’s reinterpretation of the Wire Act in 2018.
7
Years Caesars has offered digital casino and poker in NJ
$3.7bn
Price Caesars paid for William Hill in a bid to stamp its authority on US betting
7) Penn National Gaming (18)
Penn National Gaming (PNG) is this year’s highest climber, up 11 spots. The Pennsylvania-headquartered casino group was slow out the gate in securing its partnership with Barstool Sports, but since launching its Barstool-branded sportsbook in Pennsylvania in September, it secured a 13% market share in December ($72m handle). In Michigan in February, the sportsbook was fourth behind FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM with handle of $40.3m.
PNG’s USP is undoubtedly Barstool’s die-hard fanbase and unmatched brand awareness, buoyed by founder and head honcho of the online sports content platform, Dave Portnoy. Tweeting to his 2.4 million Twitter followers, Portnoy’s sometimes controversial content and tendency to post screenshots of five- and six-figure bets he has seemingly placed in the Barstool Sportsbook app could ultimately harm Penn’s responsible gambling credibility, but for now, it is driving huge engagement among Barstool’s following.
Thanks to Barstool’s content model and the brand’s deep integration into the Barstool Sportsbook, Penn has an almost non-existent online marketing budget, although it has begun to “dabble” in influencer marketing and more traditional advertising. Like BetMGM, PNG has a significant brick-and-mortar player database and subsequent loyalty program (20m+ members) to exploit. Indeed, 15% of Barstool Sportsbook retail and online wagers in Pennsylvania in Q4 were from casino customers accessed through the mychoice loyalty scheme.
The casino giant has the largest retail footprint of any online player, including 41 properties across 19 states. This vast reach has enabled Penn National Gaming to swap skin access with other operators, as it has in New York with RSI. Expansion into new states is expected to happen hard and fast in 2021.
$27.5m
Handle Barstool Sportsbook generated from 48,000 new customers in Michigan in the first 10 days
10
Additional states PNG expects to launch in this year
8) William Hill (7)
UK bookmaking mainstay William Hill features in the rankings for the last time as an independent operator ahead of Caesars’ takeover. Hills has been a long-term player in the States via its B2B betting offering, and it is clear the operator’s energy has overwhelmingly been focused on that facet of the business. The company revealed its biggest highlights of 2020 were completing its acquisition of CG Technology and migrating all Caesars’ retail sportsbooks onto the William Hill platform. Meanwhile, its B2C expansion has been comparatively slow. EKG estimates Hills had the third-highest sports wagering market share in New Jersey for 2020, yet it still came in way behind the top two performing operators, with only a 7.86% cut of the market despite visible improvements to the mobile UX.
The operator set its long-awaited igaming offering live in New Jersey in Q3 2020 after many months developing part of the tech in-house. However, the response has been rather underwhelming, as EKG estimates Hills obtained a 0.39% share of the Garden State’s online casino market in the four months it was live last year.
Since Caesars tabled its bid to acquire the London-listed group last year, William Hill launched in three new betting states in September 2020, and an additional three in 2021. It also has affiliate-style media deals with both ESPN and CBS Sports. Group CEO Ulrik Bengtsson previously described its integration with CBS Sports as “deep and tight” and “across all channels,” but the operator has remained schtum on whether the partnerships have significantly impacted customer acquisition efforts.
32%
YOY increase in US net revenue (including B2B business)
15
Number of states (including Washington DC) William Hill is live in with sports betting
9) Hard Rock (10)
Hard Rock is certainly one of the more private US operators on the list and has largely stuck to what it knows best in the last year, offering up immersive casino experiences. The Florida-based casino giant’s online arm saw New Jersey igaming revenue jump 125% YOY in 2020, according to EKG’s calculations. It grew its market share slightly to 5.72% and remained the seventh-highest earning online casino brand in the Garden State. One contributing factor to its igaming growth was the launch of its live slots feature enabling New Jersey online customers to play land-based slot machines online and in real-time.
Hard Rock’s betting efforts went in a different direction after its online sportsbook expanded into Iowa, as the firm parted ways with its provider GiG and shifted onto Scientific Games’ platform. News broke in December that a new digital arm of the business, run by former The Stars Group executives, would be established in 2021. The online business will serve as a vehicle for both online gambling and sports betting internationally, utilizing Hard Rock’s 130 million-strong player database. It is now in the process of a major hiring spree to fill development and operations roles in Texas, New Jersey, as well as Florida.
The move prompted long-standing SVP and MD for online gaming and sports betting Kresimir Spajic to step down from the company after five years. At the time of his departure, Spajic said Hard Rock’s online business had recorded sizable revenue in 2020 with high profit margins.
5.72%
Estimated New Jersey online casino market share in 2020
130m
Global player database across Hard Rock Casino’s 250 properties
10) PointsBet (12)
The Australia-listed sports betting business has expressed grand ambitions for the US and is making significant strides towards achieving them. Perhaps one of the more productive operators of the last year, PointsBet secured a five-year media partnership with NBC Sports to integrate PointsBet odds, unique betting features, and marketing opportunities across the sports media behemoth’s digital and broadcast channels. It further produced a proprietary igaming platform ready for launch in Michigan in coming months, and most recently acquired Dublin-based oddsmaker Banach Technology to improve its in-game betting efforts and take advantage of Europe’s vast engineering talent.
In addition, PointsBet is investing heavily in operational and geographic expansion, after having moved its US headquarters to Denver, and opening up a subsequent hub in Chicago. PointsBet has long been marketed as the go-to option for sharp bettors and has been creative in its promotional efforts upon launching in additional states like Illinois and Michigan. US CEO Johnny Aitken hailed the operator’s in-house tech for handling the huge volume of bets taken during the Super Bowl LV. Where others faced downtime during the event due to third-party issues, Aitken said PointsBet saw a stickier client base than the previous year, and a host of new acquisitions he believes were converted from other legal betting sites.
PointsBet operated the fifth-largest online betting product in New Jersey last year, with an estimated market share of 6%, according to EKG. Data released by the operator suggested its market share in New Jersey was up to 13.5% in the three months to November 30.
4.9%
Stake NBC Sports acquired of PointsBet as part of its five-year media partnership
$43m
Price PointsBet paid for Banach Technology
11) Parx Interactive (14)
Parx has done well in maintaining a respectable 11% igaming market share in Pennsylvania, although it has slipped one place to become the fifth-largest online casino in the Keystone State. Yet it was the third-largest betting operator in 2020 behind FanDuel and DraftKings (when including retail revenue). Parx SVP of interactive gaming and sports Matt Cullen recently told EGR NA it had been looking at expansion opportunities for some time, and was eyeing up Michigan, Colorado, and Indiana.
The Pennsylvania-based casino company has maintained a very specific long-term vision: spend as little as possible on user acquisition to remain profitable, as others invest significant capital into marketing and acquisition deals. EKG estimates that Parx is spending 2% less than the statewide market average of 17% on promotions as a percentage of GGR for online casino. In New Jersey it remained near the bottom of the pile with regards to igaming GGR, maintaining a tiny 0.06% market share.
12) Resorts Digital (8)
Resorts’ casino market share slipped more than 2% to 4.17% as the top three igaming brands have secured around half of the state’s GGR between them in 2020. The Atlantic City casino’s online sports betting offering, which is powered by DraftKings’ B2B arm (previously SBTech), sits in 11th place out of 18 sports betting brands.
Resorts scored average marks, with judges rating its responsible gambling efforts reasonably well. After five years of operation it has renewed its igaming platform deal with Scientific Games and will continue to use the supplier’s OpenPlatform PAM and online casino content for an additional five years. The Resorts Digital casino site offers over 500 slots, video poker, and table games, including live dealer and an extensive range of table games.
13) Tropicana (11)
Tropicana sits just below Hard Rock in terms of estimated casino market share in New Jersey at 5.37%, almost 2% lower than in 2019. Although its estimated revenue has grown 49% from 2019, a lack of movement and being overtaken by its competitors has seen the Atlantic City boardwalk casino slip two places in this year’s list.
Its site is powered by Gamesys as part of a deal between the casino owner and Spin Games. Despite judges ranking the operator among the lowest across all six criteria, data released by the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement placed Tropicana fifth out of the seven properties with igaming licensees by GGR in 2020. William Hill and Gamesys (Virgin Casino) fall under Tropicana’s license.
14) Kindred Group (20)
The Stockholm-listed European operator has comfortably found its feet in the US market, having upped its share of the Pennsylvania igaming and betting markets thanks in part to an innovative Philadelphia Eagles-branded slots launch. Kindred’s US team has brought the calculated and well-thought-out approach to US expansion that we have long seen within its European business. The group has gained conditional market access in up to 12 states and plans to be live in as many as six by the end of 2021.
Group CEO Henrik Tjärnström said he expects the US to soon become one of the operator’s largest markets after it reported a FY 2020 gross winnings revenue of £23.8m ($32.7m). Judges scored Kindred significantly higher than the three operators above in terms of product, geographical reach, and responsible gambling efforts, although the business ranks very low for both igaming and betting GGR in New Jersey, obtaining a 0.46% and 0.11% share of the respective markets, EKG reported.
15) 888 Holdings (15)
888 Holdings – one of the old guards in what is still a relatively nascent regulated online gambling market – remains in 15th position this year. The lack of progress up the leader board can mostly be attributed to the fact its casino and sports betting products continue to struggle to make much of an impression in New Jersey based on EKG’s market-share estimates (1.05% casino and 0.27% sports).
However, 888 could certainly be one to watch after securing access in three additional states – Colorado, Iowa, and Indiana – taking its B2C footprint to four states. The rollout of its new in-house sportsbook, created from the £15m purchase of collapsed Ireland-based bookmaker BetBright in 2019, is due to hit US shores in 2021.
As well as the firm hailing the mobile betting product for loading 30% quicker than the previous app, this differentiation and control should galvanize 888sport. In addition, the overdue introduction of the revamped poker platform, Poker8, will bolster user acquisition and cross-sell. Rumors are swirling 888 could be an acquisition target.
16) Gamesys (17)
Gamesys is another operator that has yet to expand outside of New Jersey. Its Virgin Casino brand ranked 11th for online casino GGR in the state out of 22 brands, with a 1.77% slice of the pie. The London-listed online operator recorded £12.7m ($17.6m) in 2020 US revenue, up 25% on the previous year.
Casino group Bally’s Corporation has made a £2bn ($2.75bn) bid for Gamesys to create a combined Rhode Island-based group that will be led by Gamesys CEO Lee Fenton (pictured).
Bally’s is particularly interested in the operator’s “proven technology platform.” It scaled its US platform during the year, investing in both staff and technology to accelerate growth in 2021 particularly into the Canadian province of Ontario, which is primed for an igaming launch later this year. Gamesys believes its Virgin Casino brand has US awareness in excess of 95%.
17) Mohegan Sun (16)
Connecticut-based tribal operator Mohegan Sun obtained a 1.82% online casino market share in EKG’s New Jersey GGR breakdown. However, it has made little effort in the way of expansion. Once Connecticut flips the switch on online betting and gaming, Mohegan is expecting to operate a market-access approach similar to that of its partnership with Kindred in Pennsylvania.
Mohegan CEO Mario Kontomerkos, who steps down on March 31, recently stated: “The time to act is now and the Connecticut tribes are ready to offer these new products the same way that we’ve invested in the world-class land-based facility that we have here. We are ready to begin bringing that product as soon as the state allows that to happen.” Connecticut’s two tribes will likely have exclusivity over online betting and gaming in the coastal state.
18) Pala Interactive (13)
Pala Interactive has largely shifted its efforts into supplying its online casino and betting platform to competing operators, with Kindred one of its biggest clients.
The California-based company maintains a mere 1.09% of the New Jersey igaming sector, on an estimated 2020 GGR of $10.2m. EKG reports Pala Interactive slipped two spots to become the 13th-largest online casino in the state. Pala entered Michigan in February as the platform provider for new igaming and betting brand Four Winds, operated by the Potawatomi Indians Pokagon Band. Its biggest strengths remain in its proprietary technology platform and team of industry veterans with careers spanning bwin.party and Dafabet.
19) Bet365
An enigma would be one way to describe bet365’s curious foray into the US. Despite being the world’s largest bookmaker with nearly $3,000 staked per second, according to the privately owned company’s most recent earnings, bet365 hasn’t really got out of second gear Stateside. The way its sports betting offering has made minimal impact since launching in New Jersey in 2019, through an access deal with Hard Rock, can be probably put down to recreational bettors simply being unfamiliar with the brand.
Nevertheless, bet365’s proprietary sports betting product is arguably the best in the business and the company sure has the tech capabilities, experience, and wherewithal to disrupt the status quo. As well as inking a 10-year Colorado access partnership last year with Century Casinos, the ace up its sleeve could turn out to be the deal struck with Empire Resorts to secure a way into New York (bet365 invested $50m in the casino operator). Ultimately, bet365 could very well prove that first-mover advantage is seriously overrated.
20) Ocean Casino Resort (19)
Ocean Casino Resort clings to this year’s rankings by the mere skin of its teeth, and entirely on its GGR of almost $10m in New Jersey, as per EKG estimates.
When Covid-19 struck last March, causing the closure of casino venues across the US, Ocean’s monthly online revenue experienced a significant uptick, almost doubling in April. Although when considering the weighty online growth experienced by its peers, Ocean’s revenue remains minimal. It maintained a 1% share of the igaming market in New Jersey and ultimately failed to impress the judges, scoring the lowest of all operators listed.
It seems highly probable Ocean will slip out of the rankings in years to come – perhaps even as soon as next year – as competition intensifies.
Ones to watch
Bally’s
Bally’s has certainly been busy since entering the betting arena in November via a media partnership with Sinclair Broadcast Group and the acquisition of sportsbook platform Bet.Works. In April, all of Sinclair’s regional Fox Sports channels will be rebranded to Bally Sports to grow widespread recognition of the brand. Bally’s has also acquired DFS operator Monkey Knife Fight and F2P games provider SportCaller. Then, in late March, a shock $2.75bn bid was tabled for Gamesys as Bally’s made a real statement of intent.
Betfred Sports
Betfred Sports is another one to watch carefully this year as it finds its feet in the market. Based in Las Vegas, the US business arm of the longstanding brick-and-mortar and online UK bookmaker has doubled its staff count since launching in Iowa in 2019. Operating on Scientific Games’ OpenBet platform, the operator just entered Pennsylvania and expects further expansion soon. When building out its in-house trading team, Betfred UK head of in-play and sports product development Andrew McLauchlan relocated to the US.
Smarkets
Smarket, a betting exchange famed for its political markets, entered Colorado last year and will soon be expanding to Indiana. However, the London-based firm, founded by American Jason Trost, strives to stand out with SBK, a sportsbook app that takes its prices from the exchange. With competitive odds and low margins packaged in a slick and attractive app, Smarkets has the potential to disrupt the space.
Tipico
The German retail and online giant made its US debut in December by entering New Jersey and setting up its US base in Hoboken. A 10-year partnership was sealed last year with Century Casinos to gain access to another highly competitive online market: Colorado. Whether this European brand, which achieved a lofty sixth in the EGR Power 50 Rankings, can crack America remains a tall order, yet it would be foolish to write off Tipico’s 16 years of experience.
TheScore
Already live in New Jersey and Colorado, theScore narrowly missed a spot in the rankings due to its extremely low New Jersey market share of 0.2%, as reported by EKG. The sports media outlet is sure to make a quick success in Canada as single-event wagering is passed later this year. It raised $186.3m upon listing on the Nasdaq. In its fiscal Q1, theScore’s betting handle soared 535% YOY to C$55.8m (US$43.7m) on increased engagement across its media and betting apps.
WynnBet
After acquiring a majority stake in UK-based social betting platform BetBull last year, Wynn Resorts’ online betting arm WynnBet launched its offering in New Jersey and Colorado and has since gained a negligible 0.01% share of the former’s online betting market. It has been busy hiring out a team and gaining market access and licensing in additional states like Tennessee and Virginia. The company launched in Michigan alongside 10 other online sportsbooks in a coordinated state launch in January.