When the NFL kicked off their season, the daily fantasy sports industry kicked off their most lucrative season as well.
While daily fantasy sports operate year round and tap many sports, football remains the site’s most lucrative action. The two biggest companies, DraftKings and FanDuel, offered opening week prizes and specials to bring in even more players.
DraftKings was also cited by media watchers for spending $24 million in an ad blitz leading up to the NFL season, the most advertising money spent by any U.S. company in any industry for the week. The company said it has signed up one million new customers in advance of the NFL season.
Meanwhile Yahoo and CBS Sports—which have thrived in the more traditional season-long fantasy format—have entered the fray and are trying to get their piece of the daily fantasy pie.
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins told the Associated Press that the new rivals aren’t a threat.
“Having a company like Yahoo or CBS join the industry helps if it makes games more mainstream and introduces new players,” he said.
DraftKings is offered $25 million in guaranteed prize money for opening week, including a $2 million top prize and a $1 million second prize as part of its marquee contest, the “$10 Million Guaranteed Millionaire Maker,” according to the AP.
FanDuel guaranteed $12 million in prizes opening week, including a $1 million top prize for a “Sunday Million” contest that it will offer every week of the NFL season.
“Right now, you’re seeing an unbelievably explosive period of growth. No one can really predict where this is heading. It’s exciting,” Robins told the news service.
Yahoo introduced daily fantasy products in July. As a longtime leader in traditional fantasy sports, Yahoo has an extensive player base to draw from.
CBS is offering them through a revised Sportsline brand, but officials told the AP that the games and prizes will remain small for now as the company is not trying to challenge FanDuel and DraftKings. In fact, CBS has a promotional partnership with FanDuel.
A third site from Amaya Gaming has also launched in time for the NFL season. The site—StarsDraft—has the advantage of Amaya’s large PokerStars database to draw from.
Also, another new site is forming as DraftDay Gaming Group, a new entity formed by a joint venture between Viggle Inc. and Sportech Digital has acquired fantasy sports business DraftDay from MGT Capital Investments.
According to yogonet.co, the company is 44 percent owned by Viggle, 35 percent Sportech Digital and 10 percent MGT Capital with the balance owned by employees and other shareholders.
Daily fantasy sports are legal in every state except five—Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana and Washington—where they’re either banned or the law is so unclear that companies generally stay away, according to the AP.
