Exclusive: Fanatics combines betting, prediction apps
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Fanatics is combining its sportsbook, casino and prediction markets into one app, Fanatics Betting and Gaming CEO Matt King exclusively tells Axios.
Why it matters: Sports betting's biggest players are broadening their apps as prediction markets become a bigger part of the competition for customers.
Driving the news: Fanatics Sports & Casino, which launched on Wednesday, automatically changes what customers can access based on their location and what's legal there.
- Existing customers can access it through an app update. Their account details, funds, FanCash and Fanatics One status carry over.
- Fanatics will continue to offer its standalone Markets and Casino apps.
Zoom in: Prediction markets helped drive Fanatics' decision to bring the products together, King says.
- Tens of thousands of customers each week were opening Fanatics' sportsbook app while in states where the sportsbook wasn't available, per King.
- "We want to be kind of a one-stop shop where people know that they can have a very smooth and seamless experience, either to do the things they already love or to try something new," King says.
Zoom out: Fanatics' launch follows a similar move by DraftKings, which announced its "super app" in March. This week, DraftKings launched the "Take Your Game Anywhere" campaign, starring Kevin Hart and Nick Jonas, to promote the app ahead of football season.
- Fanatics remains well behind DraftKings and FanDuel but has emerged as the clear No. 3. It captured 9% of U.S. online sports betting handle across 15 tracked states in the first quarter, according to Sports Business Journal.
- King declined to disclose trading volume for Fanatics Markets but says the prediction business has seen "incredible growth," with Fanatics spending less than $8 million marketing it since launch.
💠Thought bubble, via Axios' Nathan Bomey: With Kalshi and Polymarket looming, the conventional sportsbooks are under pressure to reduce friction for users, eliminating barriers that might otherwise prevent them from placing bets.
The big picture: Fanatics is betting its broader business can help it stand out from its rivals.
- Bets, prediction market trades and casino play all earn FanCash, which customers can spend elsewhere in the Fanatics ecosystem, including on merchandise, tickets and collectibles.
- "We'd rather give $1 back to customers than spend $1 in advertising," King says.
- Fanatics expects to issue more than $1 billion in FanCash this year. Most FanCash is still redeemed in the same part of Fanatics where it was earned, but customers are increasingly using it across the company's businesses, King says.
What to watch: Fanatics plans to launch a credit card this fall that expands the way customers can earn FanCash. It's also introducing more prediction market features and products for football season, King says.
