Daily fantasy sports sites DraftKings and FanDuel are generating roughly similar amounts of revenue over a sample of contests for the most recent NFL Sunday.
The numbers at DraftKings and FanDuel
A sampling of the publicly viewable NFL Sunday Week 9 contests — including guaranteed prize pools (GPP) and non-guaranteed contests — at DraftKings and FanDuel observed by Legal Sports Report show the sites both generated more than $2 million:
- FanDuel: $14.7 million in entry fees; $12.3 million in prizes awarded; $2.4 million revenue.
- DraftKings: $19.5 million in entry fees; $17.1 million in prizes; $2.4 million revenue.
Here’s the disclaimer: The figures represent a large sampling of contests from Sunday, but do not include all NFL contests or contests from other sports (i.e. NBA, NHL). They merely point to how much money is flowing through the DFS operators at a snapshot in time. They also do not represent any figures being generated by private contests, into which LSR has no insight.
DraftKings and FanDuel do not publicly comment on nor verify revenue figures for LSR. The figures above also would not account for any free entries that the two sites might give out to their users.
For comparison’s sake…
All the figures above were a slight tick down from the Week 8 figures surveyed by LSR.
Here is a look at data for recent weeks of the NFL season, which include similar samples of GPPs and non-guaranteed contests:
| Site | Week | Entry Fees | Prizes | Revenue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FanDuel | Week 14 (12/11) | $12,588,207.00 | $10,736,846.80 | $1,851,360.20 |
| DraftKings | Week 14 (12/11) | $16,012,847.45 | $14,142,350.60 | $1,870,496.85 |
| Yahoo | Week 14 (12/11) | $331,664.00 | $302,584.13 | $29,079.87 |
| FanDuel | Week 13 (12/4) | NA | NA | NA |
| DraftKings | Week 13 (12/4) | $18,246,941.25 | $15,963,378.60 | $2,283,562.65 |
| Yahoo | Week 13 (12/4) | $492,316.20 | $446,191.33 | $46,124.87 |
| FanDuel | Week 12 (11/27) | $13,115,094.00 | $11,113,444.10 | $2,001,649.90 |
| DraftKings | Week 12 (11/27) | $17,209,868.50 | $15,487,467.70 | $1,722,400.80 |
| Yahoo | Week 12 (11/27) | $559,247.00 | $522,054.90 | $37,192.10 |
| FanDuel | Week 11 (11/20) | $14,168,626.00 | $11,783,829.00 | $2,384,797.00 |
| DraftKings | Week 11 (11/20) | $18,728,398.25 | $16,508,463.20 | $2,219,935.05 |
| Yahoo | Week 11 (11/20) | $455,461.00 | $422,795.00 | $32,666.00 |
| FanDuel | Week 10 (11/13) | $12,486,847.00 | $10,418,693.60 | $2,068,153.40 |
| DraftKings | Week 10 (11/13) | $15,004,462.65 | $13,118,480.70 | $1,885,981.95 |
| Yahoo | Week 10 (11/13) | $394,827.00 | $364,330.00 | $30,497.00 |
| FanDuel | Week 9 (11/6) | $14,734,450.00 | $12,328,371.80 | $2,406,078.20 |
| DraftKings | Week 9 (11/6) | $19,536,503.95 | $17,112,120.20 | $2,424,383.75 |
| Yahoo | Week 9 (11/6) | $352,777.50 | $324,174.30 | $28,603.20 |
| FanDuel | Week 8 (10/30) | $15,042,309.00 | $12,805,637.60 | $2,236,671.40 |
| DraftKings | Week 8 (10/30) | $20,709,367.00 | $18,911,203.00 | $1,798,164.00 |
| Yahoo | Week 8 (10/30) | $452,425.00 | $421,844.50 | $30,580.50 |
| FanDuel | Week 7 (10/23) | $17,167,606.00 | $14,413,725.70 | $2,753,880.30 |
| DraftKings | Week 7 (10/23) | $23,661,272.80 | $21,959,359.60 | $1,701,913.20 |
| Yahoo | Week 7 (10/23) | $678,420.00 | $671,729.50 | $6,690.00 |
| FanDuel | Week 6 (10/16) | $16,742,975.00 | $14,188,814.00 | $2,554,160.80 |
| DraftKings | Week 6 (10/16) | $25,466,355.00 | $23,444,927.00 | $2,021,428.00 |
| Yahoo | Week 6 (10/16) | $565,075.00 | $565,075.00 | 37,063.10 |
What’s next for DraftKings and FanDuel?
Chatter on an “imminent” merger has cooled off after initial reports a few weeks ago, but there has also been nothing to lead anyone to believe that a merger is not still in the works. For now, the two sites continue on as separate entities, running their own contests.
For Week 10, DraftKings has an aggressive slate of GPPs that feature more than $10 million in prizes. That includes a $5 million guaranteed Millionaire Maker with a buy-in of $444. FanDuel stuck with a relatively normal slate of guaranteed contests, including two with prize pools over a million dollars.
