DraftKings and FanDuel continue to pull in stable revenue for daily fantasy football based on their Sunday NFL contests. But the underlying numbers for entry fees appear to be down at both sites ahead of a planned merger.
The top line look at DraftKings and FanDuel for NFL Week 12
A sampling of the publicly viewable NFL Sunday Week 12 contests — including both guaranteed prize pools (GPP) and non-guaranteed contests — at DraftKings and FanDuel observed by Legal Sports Report show the sites both generated around $2 million. That’s in line with what they have been doing most weeks this season:
- FanDuel: $13.1 million in entry fees; $11.1 million in prizes awarded; $2 million revenue.
- DraftKings: $17.2 million in entry fees; $15.5 million in prizes; $1.7 million revenue.
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 an example of how much money is flowing through the DFS operators at a snapshot in time. The figures are not verified or provided by the operators.
That is the worst week for the two sites in terms of revenue over a similar sample of contests this year, since LSR started observing these metrics in Week 6 of the NFL season. The number of entry fees taken in surpasses the low point of NFL Week 10.
The figures above also do not represent any figures being generated by private contests, into which LSR has no insight. Both sites have invested resources into these contests via new offerings before NFL season. DraftKings has previously told LSR that participation in private contests is up significantly year over year.
Also of note: FanDuel continues not to serve one state — Texas — that DraftKings does because of legal concerns.
Year over year at DraftKings and FanDuel
The trend for guaranteed prize pools and entry fees is down when compared with similar data from 2015.
FanDuel directly provided figures for all its contests at this time last year. While revenue was about $2.2 million for the same week in 2015 — up just a few hundred thousand over 2016’s numbers — fees appear to be down significantly. Last year, FanDuel collected $14.8 million for GPP contests and $21.9 million across all contests.
The same appears to be the case at DraftKings. Last year, the site took in $18.9 million just for GPP contests in NFL Week 12. (The data above for DK also includes a large sample of non-guaranteed contests.)
The trend can also be seen in the sites’ biggest contests:
- DraftKings’ headliner Millionaire Maker guaranteed $5 million in Week 12 of 2015, and $3.75 million this year. The Week 13 contest is $3.5 million guaranteed.
- FanDuel’s Sunday Million was $2 million last year; this year it was $1.25 million. It ticked down to $1.2 million for Week 13.
The NFL season to date
Here is a look at the metrics at DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo since Week 6 of the NFL season for similar samples.
Revenue continues to hover around $2 million a week, with some fluctuations from week to week.
| 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 |
Yahoo, the No. 3 DFS operator, continues to trail by a wide margin. This week, Yahoo started taking customers in the UK.
