Concurrent with the start of the National Football League season is an acceleration in advertising and a quest to broaden overall market share. DraftKings led the way on both national radio and national television outlets, considerably increasing their reach on the former by 77%. The company aired a total of 23,592 spots from the week between Sept. 4 and Sept. 10, ranking No. 12 overall.
“This is the most important time of the year,” DraftKings Chief Executive Officer Jason Robins said on an August call with investors. The company had a high retention rate following last football season, attaining a 40% rise in average monthly unique players (2.1 million) and 33% in revenue from that figure ($137).
Competing outlet FanDuel aired a total of 6,954 radio spots and has marketed its product through its growing FanDuel TV platform, which features personalities such as Kay Adams and Lisa Kerney. The company also secured a deal with Google to give new and existing customers a $100 discount towards YouTube NFL Sunday Ticket with any bet of $5 until Sept. 18.
“The reality is [that] we will probably have one of, if not the most, competitive NFL seasons that the industry has ever seen,” Mike Raffensperger, FanDuel Chief Commercial Officer, said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
FanDuel, which is owned by Flutter Entertainment, leads the way with 47% market share in its most recent quarterly earnings report with an adjusted EBITDA of nearly $100 million in the first half of the year. The company expects that figure to increase between $120 million and $240 million by the end of the year. Conversely, DraftKings garnered 35% market share in operating states, and its adjusted EBITDA equated to nearly $73 million last quarter with an overall projected loss between $190 million and $220 million on the year.
