This is the first in an occasional series breaking down some of the data from the recent daily fantasy sports player survey conducted by Eilers Research.
While the market for daily fantasy sports operators is obviously the one that the industry is most focused on, ancillary sites and tools in DFS could be primed for growth, according to data from a recent player survey.
Half of players pay for content
Many daily fantasy sports players are generally not content to go it alone in their quest to win at DFS. Nearly half of all respondents in the survey said they “use 3rd party tools or websites, which cost money to conduct DFS research.”
Granted, that’s only half of the universe of DFS players. But that also means the other half of the market has a chance to be acquired by sites that offer fantasy content, expert advice, and lineup setting tools for a fee.
The takeaway? Many fantasy players are already acclimated to paying for content. That means the sites that push the envelope and create better and more useful tools and expert content should be able to gain marketshare.
Money being spent isn’t always pocket change
Not surprisingly, most respondents aren’t breaking the bank on the content. More than half of the players who answered the survey and said they do pay for fantasy content said they spend less than a hundred dollars a year:
The survey appears to mesh with recent research released by Ipsos and the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, which found that the average fantasy player (season-long and DFS) spends $46 a year on fantasy “materials.”
The flipside of the numbers? Almost half of the fantasy-playing population is spending sizeable amounts of money on content. About 46 percent of respondents say they spend more than a hundred dollars a year.
Once again, it points to the idea that providing tools that the DFS player can’t do without is big business.
Players spend a lot of time doing research
An overwhelming number of players spend a sizable chunk of time doing research for daily fantasy sports. About 85 percent engage in more than five hours of research each week:
In simple terms, a lot of players are spending as much, if not more, time on content sites than on the sites of the DFS operators themselves. That’s a lot of hours, and eyeballs, for which content sites can compete.
Cutting into RotoGrinders’ dominance?
Right now, it appears RotoGrinders has a huge swath of the fantasy content audience:
Granted, some respondents to the survey were acquired via RotoGrinders, so there could be some bias in the figures. But there is not enough bias that it would change who the leader is in players’ preference for DFS research, only the margin by which they lead.
The market for DFS content isn’t entirely set yet — much like the DFS market itself. But it seems like it may be difficult for anyone to cut drastically into RotoGrinders’ lead in the short term. If anyone can, it is likely ESPN, which recently signed a deal that made DraftKings its exclusive daily fantasy partner.
