Fanatics began its third full seven days of trading in New York week commencing 11 March and the newest sportsbook in the Empire State is already making waves.
Officially taking over the gambling license previously held by PointsBet on February 26, there are some interesting conclusions to draw already from how Fanatics is faring and what comes next.
PointsBet is now no longer one of the New York legal sportsbooks, but the exiting brand made headlines for its final week performance. A PointsBet record high handle of $43.9 million marked its exit but it came at a huge cost with an accompanying loss of over $8 million.
That negative revenue figure was the second largest so far seen in the state. BetMGM set New York’s top sports betting loss to date during Super Bowl betting week with a $9.6 million hit. The PointsBet performance was all the more remarkable for the fact the book had been consistently profitable for every week since late October 2023.
The specifics of why this happened will never really be known. Certainly, there were no major sporting events during that week that would have shaken the markets or some major upsets to bust the sportsbooks. Put simply, it’s likely to have just been due to player account turbulence ahead of the transition to Fanatics.
Existing PointsBet customers were notified that their accounts would automatically transfer to the new Fanatics sportsbook. However, it remained unclear whether they would have been eligible for a Fanatics welcome bonus. Many may have simply withdrawn their funds and started over elsewhere.
Fanatics finally launched in New York with an impressive handle of $27.4 million to slot into fifth place in the sportsbook dollars wagered league ladder for the week ending March 3.
The big-hitting duo of DraftKings ($184 million) and FanDuel ($155 million) remained in the top places while Caesars ($43 million) and BetMGM (£28 million) made up the chasing pack. BetRivers continued to consolidate its mid-ranking position with a handle of $13 million.
That gives Fanatics a solid platform to attack New York’s sportsbook market leaders. Once the generous welcome offer from Fanatics kicks in and new signups begin staking real dollars on the back of it, accelerated growth seems likely.
The first appearance of Fanatics in New York made the state the 15th in which the brand now operates in the US. Michigan and Indiana were added to the Fanatics portfolio at the same time it went live in the big one - New York.
The launch of the Fanatics betting app in NY is a notable move for a company that already has a near-monopoly hold over the sports merchandise market in the nation. Fanatics is the apparel partner of America’s Big Four leagues and will add the exclusive supply of NHL jerseys to its existing deal with the MLB next year.
The company has an enormous number of associations with top teams and players to boot. It all means that Fanatics has a depth of resources available that many of its competitors in the sports betting sphere cannot or will not be prepared to match.
Fanatics’ success owes much to disrupting existing markets to gain exclusive access and brutally barging competitors out of the way. In the New York sports betting industry, the Fanatics strategy will look to do just. Caesars and BetMGM are already in its sights with a short-term focus to overtake that pair quickly.
It’s also notable that Fanatics has entered New York ahead of the ESPN-branded Penn Entertainment sportsbook. That one is still some way off hitting the Empire State as it wrangles with loose ends and regulatory approval following Penn’s acquisition of WynnBet.
In most other states in which they compete, ESPN Bet went before Fanatics. Not so in New York and that gives the letter a significant headstart. Taking market share nibbles from the small fry sportsbooks that are Bally Bet, Resorts World Bet and the soon-to-be closing WynnBet won’t interest a behemoth like Fanatics. Snatching big chunks from DraftKings and FanDuel certainly will.
As 2024 rolls on, the New York sports betting checkerboard continues to be rebuilt and reset. More captures and knockouts are to come. Right now, it seems Fanatics will be the one with all the moves.
