The US fantasy sports market has witnessed impressive growth in recent years, both in revenue and the number of users. Although the entire sector has been affected by the COVID-19, revenues are expected to recover this year and reach pre-pandemic levels.
According to data presented by Safe Betting Sites, the fantasy sports market in the United States is forecast to grow by 8% year-over-year and hit an $8.3bn value in 2021.
Fantasy Sports Revenues Jumped by 50% Before the COVID-19 Hit
Over the years, the demand for fantasy sports contests in the US and Canada, as the largest markets globally, increased significantly, with millions of players and fans building their virtual teams of real sports players. Statistics show the two countries accounted for nearly 70% of total revenues in 2020, almost five times more than Europe.
In 2014, the US fantasy sports market was valued at $5.6bn, revealed the IBS survey. However, over the next twelve months, the entire sector grew by a massive 35% and hit a $7.6bn value, the most significant annual growth to date.
Statistics show revenues continued growing in the following years and jumped to nearly $8.5bn in 2019, 50% more compared to 2014 figures. However, the COVID-19 changed that, causing revenues to drop by 8.4% in 2020.
However, the growing interest in the fantasy sports business and a surge of tech-savvy customers have helped the entire sector recover after the COVID-19 hit, with revenues expected to rise by $600 million this year.
DraftKings and FanDuel the Leading Vendors, Millennials the Biggest Fantasy Sports Fans in the US
Although Yahoo, ESPN and CBS have traditionally been the leading vendors, the US fantasy sports market is dominated by DraftKings and FanDuel. However, other vendors like PlayOn, FanTrax, StarsDraft, Dream11, and Sportito are also striving hard to increase their market share.
The Sports Betting and Fantasy App Insights 2021 survey also showed the gender distribution of sports betting and fantasy app users in the United States varied by company.
ESPN Fantasy Sports had the most female users, with a figure amounting to 22%. However, the gender distribution was highly leaned toward males across all major fantasy sports companies.
The Vorhaus Advisors survey also revealed that Millennials, aged between 18 and 34, are the biggest fantasy sports fans in the United States, with a 23% share among respondents. Another 11% of respondents were aged between 35 and 54 years old.
