DFS keeps growing in the US
The numbers of players interested in daily fantasy sports in the United States has increased 3.3 percent in 2017.
US.- A new report revealed that daily fantasy sports is growing exponentially in the North American country, as the number of people interested grew from 57.4 million in 2016 to 59.3 million this year, a 3.3 percent growth.
The report conducted by the Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA) along with Ipsos Marketing revealed that the number is more than double than it was eight years ago, when the gambling form totaled 28.4 million people in the US. FSTA estimates that the industry is worth US$7.22 billion in just the Unites States. Paul Charchian, president of the FSTA, said that the fantasy sports industry’s continuing growth demonstrates the passion that consumers have for the hobby and the desire they have to play with friends and family.
“We continue to see innovation that broadens the appeal of fantasy sports and data that shows tremendous gains in the scale of participation and economic impact,” he added. The survey was made in two phases, the first one in Canada in March and the other one between May and june in the US. The association also detailed that football is still the favorite activity when it comes to daily fantasy sports.
Back in April, the FSTA revealed that two thirds of DFS firms have decided to close their business in the United States. According to their numbers, 81 of the initial 118 member companies are no longer offering services or either their status is currently unknown. The smaller operators got left with almost nothing and the ones who survived are the companies that operate in multiple locations.
The FSTA also supported the proposal from DraftKings and FanDuel, the biggest DFS companies in the world, to merge their businesses before the FTC stopped the push. The commission released a statement earlier this week where it was detailed that the merger attempted against a free market, as the “combined firms would control more than 90 percent of the US market for paid daily fantasy sports contests.” The Federal Trade Commission, along with the Offices of the Attorneys General in the District of Columbia and California will jointly file a complaint in federal district court in order to obtain a preliminary injunction to stop the attempts from FanDuel and DraftKings to become one.
