Now two months into regulated fantasy sports in Pennsylvania, the local market is proving to be a two-horse race. And in this race, the country’s leading daily fantasy sports operators have been trading spots at the top.
The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board (PGCB) released its second monthly Fantasy Sports Contests revenue report this week. The report shows fees collected from Pennsylvania fantasy sports players, adjusted revenue for operators, and the tax revenue the state will ultimately collect from them.
Over $1 million in monthly fantasy sports revenue
According to the report, the ten approved fantasy sports operators in the state generated $1,017,862.32 in revenue in June. Thanks to a 15 percent tax charged on adjusted revenue reported by the operators, the state expects to collect $152,679.34 in taxes for the month.
Fantasy sports operators reported $1,331,706.34 in revenue in May. The state claimed $199,755.94 of that in taxes. As a result, regulated fantasy sports has generated $352,435.28 in tax revenue since it launched.
Most of the tax revenue continues to be generated by the country’s top two daily fantasy sports operators: FanDuel and DraftKings.
FanDuel and DraftKings trade top spot
New York-based FanDuel led PA fantasy sports operators in May, generating $673,013.94 in revenue. Boston-based DraftKings was a close second, posting $632,008.62 in revenue.
However, DraftKings took over the top spot in June, generating $511,234.93 in revenue. This time around, it was FanDuel coming a close second to its rival operator with $490,038.78 in revenue.
The eight other approved fantasy sports operators in PA combined to generate less than $17,000 in revenue in June. In fact, two reported no revenue and one operated at a loss. Here is a look at the other DFS operators:
- DRAFT ($10,192.32)
- Fantasy Draft ($4,392.37)
- Sportshub Technologies ($1,570.69)
- Boom Fantasy ($639.93)
- Fastpick ($62.48)
- Full Time Fantasy Sports (No revenue)
- Fantasy Football Players Championship (No revenue)
- Yahoo Fantasy Sports (-$269.18)
Each posted similar numbers in May, proving that, so far, the PA fantasy sports market appears to be an oligopoly, with FanDuel and DraftKings the only two entities generating tangible revenues.
Fantasy sports are essentially a form of sports betting. Players compete against each other in contests where each player drafts a team of pro athletes and earns various points based on the real-life statistical performance of those athletes.
Fantasy sports in PA
Pennsylvania residents may have been playing in fantasy sports contests on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel for the past few years. However, the state did not legalize the contests until it passed comprehensive gambling expansion legislation in October 2017.
The first regulated fantasy sports contests in PA ran at the beginning of May, marking the launch of the first new form of gambling made legal under the legislation.
FanDuel and DraftKings have dominated the US daily fantasy sports market since they launched in 2009 and 2012 respectively. In 2016, the two companies planned a merger. However, it was blocked by the Federal Trade Commission in 2017, because it would have left a single entity controlling a 90 percent market share.
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