ESPN Bet Struggles to Secure Top Spot in Maryland Market
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00:00 [MUSIC]
00:03 >> Jim, we heard all the noise about ESPN bet.
00:05 We're gonna take over, we're gonna be right there.
00:08 I mean, everyone's fighting for that number three, right?
00:11 If indeed you believe that Fanduel, I mean, the numbers say it,
00:14 that Fanduel is number one or DraftKings number one.
00:16 Let's just say that they interchange each other.
00:18 There was really an opening for three, BetMGM, maybe some others.
00:22 Jim, it does not appear that ESPN bet is in line to jump into that number three
00:26 spot at the very least, does it?
00:29 >> No, Craig, not at least in Maryland,
00:32 which we saw their sports betting report come out within the last couple of days.
00:37 And ESPN bet saw its share of online handle
00:43 drop to its lowest point so far this year at 4%.
00:48 ESPN bet handling $16.8 million in Maryland in May,
00:56 out of the total nearly 420 million there market wide.
01:01 So 4% in May, which is a considerable drop off from April where
01:06 they had about 7.5% of the online market in terms of handle.
01:13 They did clear $1.4 million in revenue.
01:17 They held about 8.5%, which is pretty in line with
01:23 the industry average, I guess we could say.
01:26 And I really think that there's two sort of points to this.
01:32 FanDuel, DraftKings obviously have had a several year head start.
01:37 We saw ESPN bet launch midway through November towards the end of last year
01:43 in more than a dozen markets and they had that heavy promotional push.
01:49 So certainly the several year head start that FanDuel and
01:55 DraftKings had is certainly a factor.
01:58 And also too talking to some industry people,
02:01 the product side needs to come up a little bit with ESPN bet.
02:06 And Penn Interactive, their CEO Jay Snowden,
02:10 talked about in recent months that his team, his tech team,
02:15 is all in on enhancing their Parley product in advance of the football season.
02:22 So a lot remains to be seen as we get through the summer and then into the fall
02:27 with college football and NFL betting returning to the sports wagering menu.
02:32 And I think we'll get a pretty good indication of just how successful
02:37 ESPN bet can be once that new Parley product offering
02:42 is rolled out here in September and October.
02:46 FanDuel on the other hand in Maryland, they had market highs in handle,
02:52 $195.2 million bet through the FanDuel Sportsbook app.
02:57 They held 15%, well above industry average,
03:02 and that turned into $27.2 million in revenue for FanDuel.
03:07 $7 million the Maryland Sportsbooks combined to send back to the state
03:13 in a tax payment there, the sports betting tax.
03:16 $7 million in May, second most ever in a month for Maryland Sportsbooks
03:23 since that market opened up in December of 2021, Craig.
03:28 [MUSIC]