The Lucrative and Growing Fantasy Football Industry

Share this infographic on your site!

Featured Programs

The Lucrative and Growing Fantasy Football Industry

Fantasy Football is back in full swing — and business has never been bigger.

Number of Fantasy Sports Players in US and Canada:
1988 500,000
1991-94 1-3 Million
2003 15.2 Million
2004 13.5 Million
2005 12.6 Million
2006 18 Million
2007 19.4 Million
2008 29.9 Million
2009 28.4 Million
2010 32 Million
2011 35.9 Million
2014 41.5 Million
2015 56.8 Million

That’s more than a 270% increase since 2003, 2 times the total of 2009, and includes a good percentage of North America.

Fantasy Sports Players as a Percentage of Population (Age 12+):
US Canada
Total 14% 19%
Adults 13% 18%
Teens 18% 30%
Male 19% 20%
Female 8% 5%

Let’s break down those fantasy demographics further:

Sex: 80% Male / 20% Female
Ethnicity: 89% Caucasian
Average Age: 34
College Degree or More: 78%
Full-time employment: 66%
Favorite Fantasy Sport: Football (73%)
Average Time Spent Consuming Sports: 18 hours per week
Average Time Spent Consuming Fantasy Sports: 9 hours per week
Average Fantasy Sports Experience: 9.5 years
Average Annual Household Income: $92,750

Of the 56.8 million players, more than 40 million play fantasy football.

That would be like if every single resident of the following 22 states played in a fantasy football league:
Connecticut
Iowa
Mississippi
Arkansas
Utah
Kansas
Nevada
New Mexico
Nebraska
West Virginia
Idaho
Hawaii
Maine
New Hampshire
Rhode Island
Montana
Delaware
South Dakota
North Dakota
Alaska
District of Columbia
Vermont
Wyoming

Factor in that participants spend an average of $465 a year on fantasy sports, and do the math.

Fantasy football is an $18.6 billion market.

That’s $6 billion more than the current estimated NFL revenue, and 4.5 times the current value of the NFL’s top flight team, the Dallas Cowboys.

NFL Team: 2015 Value (In Billions):

Dallas Cowboys $4
New England Patriots $3.2
Washington Redskins $2.85
New York Giants $2.8
San Francisco 49ers $2.7
New York Jets $2.6
Houston Texans $2.5
Chicago Bears $2.45
Philadelphia Eagles $2.4
Green Bay Packers $1.95
Denver Broncos $1.94
Baltimore Ravens $1.93
Pittsburgh Steelers $1.9
Indianapolis Colts $1.88
Seattle Seahawks $1.87
Miami Dolphins $1.85
Atlanta Falcons $1.67
Minnesota Vikings $1.59
Carolina Panthers $1.56
Arizona Cardinals $1.54
Kansas City Chiefs $1.53
San Diego Chargers $1.53
New Orleans Saints $1.52
Tampa Bay Buccaneers $1.51
Cleveland Browns $1.5
Tennessee Titans $1.49
Jacksonville Jaguars $1.48
St Louis Rams $1.45
Cincinnati Bengals $1.45
Detroit Lions $1.44
Oakland Raiders $1.43
Buffalo Bills $1.4

In other words, fantasy football might be more valuable than the real thing.

Q: How did fantasy go from weekender hobby to big-time business?

A: 2 words – Daily Fantasy.

In 2006, Congress passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIEGA), which banned online poker – deemed a game of chance – but left room for fantasy sports wagers – deemed a game of skill.

Daily Fantasy Rules:
1) Submit entry fee
2) Select lineup under capped fantasy budget
3) Collect earnings from results
4) Rinse and repeat

DraftKings and FanDuel – the two largest daily fantasy services – will each pay out more than $2 billion in winnings this year.

That’s a big chunk of change.

But with entry fees – from $2 to more than $5,000 – generating $2.6 billion this year, bearish projections continue.

Bearish Revenue Estimates Per Year (In Billions):
2015: $2.6
2016: $3.66
2017: $5.16
2018: $7.29
2019: $10.27
2020: $14.4
…
2025: $77???

In comparison, online poker and casino projections only make up about 5% of fantasy projections.

Bearish Revenue Estimates Per Year (In Millions):
2015: $150
2016: $170
2017: $214
2018: $443
2019: $606
2020: $663

Sports books in Vegas are taking a hit, too.

NFL Week 1 Entry Fees:
FanDuel/DraftKings: $60 million
Las Vegas: $30 million

Investors Have Taken Notice

Total VC Raised : Investors:

DraftKings – $426 million : Fox Sports, Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, Madison Square Garden Co., Legends Hospitality, Atlas Venture, DST Global, GGV Capital, the Kraft Group, the Raine Group, and Wellington Management Co.

FanDuel – $363 million : KKR & Co., Google Capital, Time Warner Investments, Turner Sports, the National Basketball Association, several NBA owners and NFL owners, Shamrock Capital, NBC Sports Ventures, Comcast Ventures, Bullpen Capital, Pentech Ventures, and Piton Capital

DraftKings and FanDuel are also among the top 5 spenders in TV ads [from 9/14-21/15].

Company Total Spent National Airings
1)Warner Bros. $18,277,265 3,303
2)DraftKings $17,818,044 2,571
3)GEICO $15,883,842 5,160
4)FanDuel $14,729,168 2,576
5)Verizon $14,286,524 1,234

Yes, those ads ARE on all the time.

So what are the odds you collect from that $2 billion pot?

Player Total Wins/Day
Top 10 Players 883
Top 100 Players 330
Remaining 20,000 13

If you’re not a top fantasy player in the world, you’re probably not winning much.

The cut-off between winners and losers is vivid and steep.

But that’s probably not stopping anyone too soon.

So, what’s your lineup looking like this week?

Citations: