Fanatics is just getting its feet wet dipping into the sports betting marketplace. Of course, its acquisition of the U.S. division of PointsBet accelerated the process.
While it’s true that on paper, Fanatics seems more comfortable in the sports betting arena—its primary business is the sale of sports apparel and merchandise—the company has already revealed its next goal is to establish a presence in the online casino business.
Like its slow, deliberate approach to sports betting with beta testing, the approach to digital casinos will be the same, Fanatics Betting & Gaming Chief Business Officer Ari Borod said to US Bets. The plan is to go live with an iCasino before the end of the year.
“But if we don’t feel it’s perfect yet, then it will be live at the beginning of next year,” Borod said. “We have the same commitment to improving the product on the casino side as we do in sports.”
Of the six states which have regulated iCasinos, PointsBet is live in four of them: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan and West Virginia. It’s a matter of transferring the licensing.
It’s too late for Fanatics to be the first, so instead the company’s aim is to be the best.
If there are people who want to play online blackjack on their phone, Borod doesn’t want them going to a competitor to do it. “We want them to continue engaging with Fanatics,” he told US Bets. “So we’re obviously going to have to have that, to give the customer what they want. It’s definitely a part of the strategy. I don’t think there’s been enough innovation on the casino side. So we are working hard at that as well.”
