Entain was not prepared for how quickly it would have to ramp up BetMGM and its offerings to compete in the US.
That is according to interim CEO Stella David, who spoke on the struggles seen by BetMGM on Entain’s year-end earnings call last week.
“In the US, we’re very proud of the successes that we’ve had with BetMGM,” David said. “And its performance, quite rightly, is a key focus for us. And where I like to think of MGM and ourselves, Entain, that we are the co-parents of BetMGM.
“But being fully transparent, it took us, and that is Entain, some time to realize just how quickly we needed to feed BetMGM with better customer experiences, and better, more focused US-tailored products.”
BetMGM handle, revenue share down
David’s point about moving a bit too slowly is illustrated in the numbers from the past two years.
BetMGM has remained solidly in third place when it comes to both handle and market share from all states that break out data by operator, but the gap between it and No. 2 DraftKings widened significantly in 2023:
| Operator | ’23 handle share | ’23 revenue share | Change from ’22 handle share | Change from ’22 revenue share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FanDuel | 36.3% | 43.0% | +1.9 percentage points | -0.3 percentage points |
| DraftKings | 36.1% | 34.4% | +4.8 pp | +7.4 pp |
| BetMGM | 7.7% | 7.7% | -2.5 pp | -2.7 pp |
A combination of BetMGM being slower to improve its parlay and in-game betting product, and DraftKings’ success in both last year leaves the joint venture to fight for lost ground in 2024.
Both partners ‘committed to investing’
This year has started on an upward track, David said, and that should continue through the year.
“So, with both parents of BetMGM committed to investing into the growth, we are positioned very well for 2024 and look forward to a positive market share progression,” David added.
Chief Product Officer Satty Bhens said the brand had a “fantastic Super Bowl weekend” with 1.3 million clicks per minute at peak times. The improved BetMGM app in Nevada was used by two-thirds of the fans betting in the stadium during the Super Bowl, Bhens added.
Baseball, NBA improvements coming to BetMGM
Bhens said he is most excited for new in-play betting opportunities in 2024. Those will come as a result of Entain’s $265 million purchase of Angstrom in July 2023.
Angstrom’s baseball models will be implemented first in the US, followed by NBA models. Once Angstrom’s models are fully integrated into BetMGM, the brand will be level with or even above operators like FanDuel and DraftKings in some areas, Bhens added.
“I think in terms of product parity with Angstrom, as far as we can see with a roadmap, yes, there’s no reason why we would not be able to meet the product expectations of our competitors, at least from a customer point of view. … I think we will have a chance to differentiate differently than our competitors do,” Bhens said.
