DraftKings edges out FanDuel as leading online gambling US operator

The neck-and-neck race for dominating the online gambling market in the United States has been ongoing with DraftKings and FanDuel its two fiercest competitors. Although BetMGM has been pushing aggressively into the market, it seems DraftKings and FanDuel have reigned between themselves with a fair degree of surety.

FanDuel has maintained a pole position until now, as DraftKings seems to be finally overtaking the company in the most recent quarter, not least because of the company’s expansion in iGaming thanks to its strategic acquisition of Golden Nugget Online Gaming back in 2022.

According to Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, a consultancy for the gaming industry, DraftKings now holds a marginal lead in terms of online gambling gross gaming revenue in the third quarter of the year with 31% of the market.

This is slightly ahead of the 30% market share held by FanDuel. Together, the two companies dominate the US iGaming and sports betting market. This has not been an easy journey. DraftKings saw itself lose positions over the past years, and it seemed to be far behind its biggest rival, but the company has recently been on an upswing, catching up to FanDuel and once again breathing down the company's neck.

FanDuel has also lost some of its momentum, peaking at 37% online gambling market share in the first quarter of the year, but evidently slowing down most recently. Of course, FanDuel and DraftKings aren’t the only game in town and although the companies have mostly handled the arrival of rivals such as Caesars Entertainment and BetMGM, they are in for some serious challenges ahead.

For example, Fanatics Sportsbook and ESPN BET are both arriving in the regulated online gambling space in the United States, ready to claw market share away from the established leaders and break up their dominance. DraftKings though has been preparing for new challenges by significantly upping the ante for its mobile and sports betting products, Eilers & Krejcik Gaming noted that the company is keen to ensure that it remains competitive in the face of new challenges.

The next frontier that will allow companies to grow rapidly in the online gambling space in the United States is iGaming. As online casinos are undergoing a process of market-wide legalization, the better-prepared companies today are most likely to dominate the industry tomorrow.

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