- With the NFL season getting underway, September marked the start of the busiest period for operators, and that was on display in figures reported by the PA Gambling Control Board.
- Revenue across all operators in September was $2.15 million, more than double that of the month prior and some 40% bigger than the previous best month on record.
- DraftKings was the clear market leader, leading FanDuel in both entry fees and revenue, while maintaining a higher gross profit margin.
The fantasy sports market kicked into high gear in September. With the NFL season getting underway on the 6th, it marks the start of the busiest period for operators, and that was on display in figures reported by the PA Gambling Control Board.
Revenue across all operators in September was $2.15 million, more than double that of the month prior and some 40% bigger than the previous best month on record, May. For the state, this meant $320,000 in tax revenue for the month, taking the total in the five months since the market launched to $946,000.
DraftKings was unquestionably the biggest winner in September. It lead its main competitor FanDuel in both entry fees ($11.6 million to $9.9 million) and revenue ($1.2 million to $950,000. It did this while maintaining its gross profit margin at 10.1%, only down fractionally on its historic average of 10.3%. FanDuel’s margin for September was 9.6%, returning slightly more to players in a bid to bring back customers for the NFL season.
Yahoo is the market’s clear third when it comes to entry fees. It took in $300,000 in September—its best to date—up from $225,000 the month prior. However, this sequential growth of 33% is much worse than that of FanDuel and DraftKings, both of which more than doubled their entry fees month-over-month.
This comes despite an even more aggressive policy of returning everything back to players: For the second month on record, Yahoo Fantasy in fact reported a net loss in September—some $12,000, a non-trivial 4% over all entry fees collected. In fact, to date, Yahoo has reported an operating loss in the Pennsylvania DFS market of almost $5000.
Fantasy Draft also had a disappointing month. It actually reported a decline in entry fees from August to September from $147,000 to $134,000, a 9% drop. And this came despite it cutting its already thin gross profit margin from 2.6% to 0.8%, returning practically all entry fees back to players in prize money and promotions.
