DraftKings Continues Growth, Moves Ahead of FanDuel in New Jersey August Returns

DraftKings earned more revenue than FanDuel in New Jersey for the first time in close to four years during August.

The Division of Gaming Enforcement revealed that legal sportsbooks in The Garden State produced $96 million in revenue, a 47.1% year-to-year increase. DraftKings was the leader of all sportsbooks with $56.9 million in revenue, more than 50% of the state’s overall total and FanDuel’s revenue of $25.7 million.

DraftKings has long played second fiddle to FanDuel in American sports betting, but the recent results are a continuation of the closing gap between the two.

New Jersey’s sports betting market has been one of the most lucrative in the country, alongside New York, Ohio, Nevada, and others.

After suffering a summer slump during the “dead season” in sports, New Jersey exploded with 57.4% more revenue than it generated during July.

New Jersey sportsbooks also claimed a handle of $725.8 million, $697.1 million of which stemmed from online sportsbooks. Baseball was the most-bet sport with $82.1 million in transactions, ahead of basketball ($70.6 million) and football ($22.3 million).

Even though the NFL did not kick-off until September 7, futures bets such as Super Bowl winners were a popular market for local bettors.

BetMGM, as is the case in many states, was third in revenue totals behind DraftKings and FanDuel. It claimed $4.7 million in revenue, just over 8% of DraftKings’ market-leading total. No other sportsbook produced more than $2.3 million in revenue.

Sportsbooks combined have taken home $597.8 million in annual revenue, representing 42.7% year-to-year growth. Online casinos have also taken off and driven $155.3 million in revenue, an 18.1% annual increase.

According to Visual Capitalist, New Jersey accounted for $10.9 billion in total sports wagers during 2022, a mark that was only outpaced by New York ($16.3 billion). The year-to-year growth suggests that New Jersey, though there are still many crucial months on the horizon, is in a strong position to beat its numbers from a year ago.

As encouraging as the New Jersey numbers are, the bigger story is DraftKings pushing past FanDuel in another major state.

In June, New York reported for the first time in its 18-month sports betting history that a sportsbook other than FanDuel was the top earner for a monthly period—that company was, unsurprisingly, DraftKings.

The Boston-headquartered operator beat out FanDuel with $488.5 million to $418.2 million in monthly handle. In July, the two companies were in a near-deadlock at $41.09 and $41.08 million, with FanDuel claiming the margin.

FanDuel has since secured the top spot in New York’s figures for August. The national leader generated $41.9 million in revenue compared to DraftKings’ $35.4 million.

However, DraftKings hit a major milestone during the week ending August 6. It set its all-time weekly highs for revenue ($25.1 million) and handle ($164.1 million) and is now second all-time in weekly revenue, behind only FanDuel’s $26.6 million during the week ending January 22.

DraftKings has taken several steps to acquire a larger percentage of the market from its competitors. Aside from the typical promotions and sign-up bonuses, it has built goodwill with bettors recently by refunding missed player props during NFL games when players are injured, a topic that has split opinion and left many bettors frustrated.

FanDuel still holds a lead on the national market, but power is quickly becoming consolidated by the “Big Four” operators, and DraftKings is growing more powerful within that.