A series of studies from daily fantasy sports site FanDuel has illustrated that seasonlong and daily fantasy sports players are definitively not the exact same demographic.
While there is a lot of crossover between the two types of fantasy sports players, FanDuel has demonstrated that the two groups are not entirely the same.
A presentation at the Fantasy Sports Trade Association Winter Conference from Nigel Eccles, CEO of FanDuel, and Danielle MacLean, director of fantasy sports for CBS Sports, highlighted important differences between the two segments of the fantasy sports population.
The statistics provided are the result of surveys of FanDuel players, based on three different studies. FanDuel has established itself as the industry leader with huge revenue numbers and an 80% market share.
Key differences
Here are some interesting takeaways from the presentation:
- DFS players are overwhelmingly male — 95%, as compared to 78% of seasonlong fantasy sports players.
- Not every DFS player plays seasonlong fantasy — about 17% of DFS players don’t play in seasonlong leagues.
- 56% of those who don’t play in seasonlong leagues have been recruited by one-day fantasy sites.
- Seasonlong players are much more enamored with fantasy sports as a social activity (71% vs. 25% for DFS players). They also enjoy the rituals of a league group (58% vs. 17% for DFS). (see graphs below).
- DFS players see fantasy as a way to make money (66% for DFS players vs. 43% for seasonlong players) and enjoy the flexibility offered by contests (50% for DFS players vs. 24%). (see graphs below).
How DFS players act
FanDuel also had some interesting results about the actions and thoughts of DFS players:
- The main reason DFS players compete is for excitement (31% of respondents).
- DFS increases the amount of time players spend watching sports-related TV shows and actual games, reading sports news and commentary, and using apps to follow games.
- The median deposit of a FanDuel player is $25.
- The majority of DFS entries — 62% — are $1 or $2 entry contests.
Takeaways?
So what does all of this mean for the DFS industry? Here are the takeaways:
- DFS introduces new players to fantasy sports.
- DFS increases excitement about sports.
- DFS increases sports consumption.
All of this bodes well for the DFS industry, and for its possibility for growth.
First, there is a segment of the population that has never played fantasy sports but is willing to try DFS. Also, seasonlong and DFS players share similarities, but there is room for crossover if DFS can replicate some of the traits of seasonlong fantasy sports.
The presentation was one of several interesting ones at the FSTA conference, including one about some bold predictions for DFS in coming years.
You can check out the presentation from the FSTA Conference here.
