The Biggest Sports Betting Companies

Sports betting has taken off, with sports-focused outfits such as DraftKings competing with casino titans like Caesars and MGM Resorts to attract gamblers.

Since 2018, sportsbooks have generated $20 billion in gross revenue from more than $247 billion in bets across the 34 states, plus the District of Columbia, where sports betting is legal.

DraftKings, Inc., is the largest company with a sportsbook by market capitalization. The company is a relative newcomer, founded in 2012 as a fantasy sports platform. It has swayed investors with major media partnerships and by quickly launching sportsbooks in legal states after the Supreme Court allowed states to legalize sports wagering in 2018.

Read on for a full report into the biggest sports betting companies.

Key findings

Key findings

• Flutter Entertainment, the owner of FanDuel, is the largest online sportsbook operator in the U.S. with a market capitalization of $31 billion as of Aug. 16, 2023.
• Sportsbooks have earned $20 billion in gross revenue on more than $247 billion worth of sports wagers since 2018.
• Most online sportsbooks are owned by companies that have other gambling and hospitality operations.

The biggest sports betting companies

Biggest sports betting companies

Flutter Entertainment

Flutter Entertainment

Flutter Entertainment (LSE:FLTR; OTC:PDYPF; OTC:PDYP.Y) is a sports betting and gaming behemoth, with operations in the UK, Ireland, Australia, and the U.S. It runs the most popular online sportsbook in the U.S., FanDuel.

Flutter estimates that it commands a 47% share of the U.S. online sportsbook market and 23% of the iGaming market as of the second quarter of 2023. FanDuel alone generated $100 million EBITDA in the first half of 2023. In 2022, FanDuel became the first U.S. online sportsbook to generate a profit.

Flutter also operates big international online gambling platforms, including Betfair, Sportsbet, PokerStars, and Sky Betting & Gaming.

Flutter operates online sportsbooks via FanDuel in 32 states and the District of Columbia.

MGM Resorts

MGM Resorts

MGM Resorts (NYSE:MGM) operates a sports betting and online gaming segment under BetMGM. It has a variety of partnerships, including with Buffalo Wild Wings, the National Basketball Association (NBA), National Hockey League (NHL), Major League Baseball (MLB), and a range of professional sports teams.

In the second quarter of fiscal year 2023, BetMGM reported its first positive EBITDA quarter.

BetMGM estimates that it is third in U.S. market share for sports betting and iGaming and first in market share for iGaming.

BetMGM offers sportsbooks in 24 states, plus the District of Columbia. MGM Resorts has a sprawling international presence as well.

DraftKings

DraftKings

Founded in 2012 as a platform for fantasy sports, DraftKings, Inc., (NASDAQ:DKNG) quickly became a household name for fantasy sports and eventually sports betting by inking deals with big hitters, including MLB, NHL, and ESPN. It also received investments from Fox Sports (an investment now owned by Disney) and the Kraft Group, which owns the New England Patriots.

DraftKings was the first sportsbook to market in New Jersey, launching after the Garden State legalized sports betting in 2018.

DraftKings went public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in 2020.

The company operates mobile sports betting in 21 states. In the second quarter of fiscal year 2023, DraftKings had 2.1 million average monthly unique paying customers, a 44% increase year over year. Average revenue per unique paying customer was $137, up $33 year over year.

Caesars Entertainment

Caesars Entertainment

Caesars Entertainment, Inc., (NASDAQ:CZR) manages resorts and casinos branded under Caesars, Harrah's, Horseshoe, and Eldorado. Caesars Entertainment also offers digital gaming, including online sports betting, which it offers in 22 North American jurisdictions.

The company generated roughly $159 million in revenue from sports betting from April through June 2023 from $2.5 billion in handle (total dollars wagered). That’s up from $121 million from the same period in 2022.

Caesars Digital segment, which includes its online sportsbook and iGaming, posted its first quarter of positive adjusted EBITDA in the second quarter of 2023.

Wynn Resorts

Wynn Resorts

Wynn Resorts, Ltd., (NASDAQ:WYNN) is a holding company that operates multiple segments in the casino space, including Wynn Interactive, which the online sportsbook WynnBet falls under.

While Wynn Resorts posted operating revenue of $1.6 billion in the second quarter of 2023, Wynn Interactive, which includes its online sportsbook, posted a $15 million loss.

WynnBet is available in 12 states.

Bet365

Bet365

Bet365 is a private British online gambling company founded in 2000. The company has sportsbooks in New Jersey, Colorado, Ohio, Virginia, and Iowa, as well as in Ontario, Canada, and across Europe and Asia.

While Bet365 is private, it does post some financial information. In fiscal year 2022, it earned $3.4 billion in revenue, a 2.9% increase year over year. But its profit plummeted 90% to $60 million as it spent big on customer acquisition in markets where it had expanded. Sports betting revenue also declined 2% while iGaming revenue grew 25%.

Penn Entertainment

Penn Entertainment

Penn Entertainment, Inc., (NASDAQ:PENN) owns and operates casinos across the U.S., plus an online sportsbook. It aimed to shake up the sports betting scene with its acquisition of sports media company Barstool Sports, only to shed ownership of it three years later and reraise with a $2 billion deal with ESPN.

Under the Penn-ESPN joint venture, Penn will pay ESPN $1.5 billion over 10 years while ESPN has the ability to purchase a hefty amount of Penn stock during the same period. In return, Penn will gain the exclusive right to the “ESPN Bet” trademark, which it will use to rebrand its sportsbook. In addition, ESPN will exclusively promote the Penn-operated ESPN Bet on its platforms.

While Penn posted a positive net income and EBITDA in the second quarter of 2023, its interactive segment, which includes online sports betting and iGaming and other online segments, posted a $12.8 million adjusted EBITDAR loss. That's an improvement year over year from a $20.8 million loss.

Penn provides online sports betting in 27 states.

Rush Street Interactive

Rush Street Interactive

Rush Street Interactive (RSI) (NYSE:RSI), which operates the BetRivers sportsbook, is another relative newcomer to the gambling scene and was founded in 2012. The company has partnerships with multiple professional sports teams, as well as the Spanish football league La Liga.

RSI posted a net loss of $16.7 million in the second quarter of fiscal year 2023, up from a net loss of $28.3 million in the same quarter of 2022. Average revenue per monthly active user was $359, up 11% year over year.

The company was first to market for online gambling in Indiana, Colorado, and Illinois. RSI operates online sportsbooks in 15 states, along with Ontario, Mexico, and Colombia.

PointsBet

PointsBet

Founded in Australia, PointsBet (OTC:PBTHF) offers online sports betting in 14 states and iGaming in four.

The thrust of its U.S. strategy comes through a partnership with NBCUniversal, which gave the media company equity in PointsBet in exchange for PointsBet becoming NBC’s exclusive sports betting partner.

A new deal between the two signed in 2023 allows NBCUniversal to work with other sportsbooks while providing PointsBet with more opportunities to integrate into NBC’s regional networks and Comcast networks. It also lowers the amount of money PointsBet is committed to spend on U.S. marketing.

That aligns with PointsBet’s strategy of focusing on operations in states where it thinks it can generate the most revenue as opposed to trying to operate in as many states as possible.

PointsBet handled just over $1 billion in U.S. sports betting wagers in the second quarter of fiscal year 2023, up 100% year over year.

In the first half of 2023, PointsBet posted a normalized EBITDA loss of $149.1 million compared to a $126 million loss during the first half of 2022.

Investing in sports betting

Investing in sports betting: Bet or fold?

The sports betting industry has room to grow, with more states eyeing legalization and major media networks with millions of viewers partnering with sportsbooks.

At the same time, competition is heating up and consolidation appears to be accelerating. Some sportsbooks have spent heavily -- sometimes generating a loss -- on promos to attract bettors in new markets and on media partnerships.

There are few pure sports betting plays given that many sportsbooks are operated by companies that also run casinos as resorts. For investors, that opens up portfolio options and space to maneuver to gain exposure to sports betting without going all-in on the nascent industry.

Motley Fool analysts have put together ideas to get started investing in sports betting stocks. It’s up to you to decide if you want a piece of the action.

Sources

• Axios (2023). ”Exclusive: NBCU and PointsBet extend betting deal by two years.”
• Company SEC filings and investor presentations.
• Sportshandle.com (2023). “Legal US Sports Betting Revenue, Handle And Tax Totals Since PASPA Repeal.”