- Daily fantasy sports revenue in the state of Pennsylvania dipped slightly in December 2018 on a month-to-month basis, indicating the start of the seasonal downturn.
- The gap between market leaders has narrowed significantly.
- Yahoo Fantasy also had its best month on record in terms of entry fees, but made a loss approaching $100,000 after paying out guaranteed prizes to players.
Daily fantasy sports revenue in the state of Pennsylvania dipped slightly in December 2018 on a month-to-month basis, indicating the start of the seasonal downturn. Still, PA gaming operators reported the third best month on record in the eight months since the market first opened.
In total, operators reported $2.9 million in revenue, compared to a record high of $3.2 million in November. Once again, DraftKings leads the pack, with $1.35 million in monthly revenue. This continues its slight lead over competitor, FanDuel which reported $1.32 million in revenue.
DraftKings has led the market in seven of the eight months, at times enjoying a 20% gap over its next biggest competitor. However, this is a gap that has narrowed substantially: More than $300,000 separated the pair in November; in December, the difference was less than $30,000.
Outside the big two, Draft.com enjoyed a surging December, taking in entry fees of $1.6 million, its best yet so far in the market (it just nudges out June’s $1.6 million). Yahoo Fantasy also had its best month on record in terms of entry fees, taking in over half a million for the first time.
Revenue, however. tells a different story: For the second month on record, Yahoo posted a net loss, and this time it was substantial. It burned almost $90,000 once contest prizes and promotional bonuses were returned to players. That gives it an operating loss of 15% for the month, significant enough to more than wipe out marginal profits of previous months. Over the eight-month history of the market, Yahoo’s losses total $50,000.
The tax man collected just a snip under $430,000 for December’s regulated fantasy sports activities. In total, state revenues have now crossed over the $2 million mark. Total annual revenues should be in the region of $3.5 million.
