If top sports betting executives are right, 2024 will be the year of innovation and cozier media relationships.
The US sports betting landscape continued to evolve in 2023, as a couple of noteworthy newcomers debuted last year. Fanatics, known for their sports apparel and memorabilia, launched in Massachusetts, Tennessee, Maryland, and Ohio.
Subsequently, Fanatics acquired PointsBet’s American assets in May, giving it even more US reach. Meanwhile, ESPN announced its sportsbook brand ESPN BET in November. Penn Entertainment promptly dumped Barstool Sportsbook, rebranding those assets to ESPN BET in 17 states.
We also lost a couple of competitors in the space. Fox Bet, a short-lived joint venture between Flutter Entertainment and Fox Corp, closed last summer, while WynnBet pulled the plug on operations in most states.
Meanwhile, Mojo, a boutique sportsbook operator backed by baseball legend Alex Rodriguez, shuttered its only sportsbook in New Jersey ahead of a sale of its technology. Sports betting operators were also happy to see spending on customer acquisition start to come down in 2023, and that led to many operators predicting profitability as they approached the year's end.
2024 Insights from Sports Betting Industry Leaders
Business Insider recently talked with several sports betting executives to get their predictions for the new year. While their business models and goals differ, it was interesting to see how many common themes emerged from their interviews.
When the landscape of US sports betting first opened up in 2018, sports betting operators were launch-driven, as customer acquisition was paramount.
But now that the industry is maturing, that focus is shifting.
“I think you’ll see more innovation than you saw this year because I think we are all able to now focus on that part of the business versus just launch, launch, launch."
- Ken Fuchs, Caesars Entertainment COO and Head of Sports
Betr co-founder Joey Levy expects the pressure from new competitors will push the big incumbents to innovate. Betr is one of the newcomers, specializing in micro-betting.
“Product innovation will position these emerging operators to pos real challenges to incumbents, which will ultimately benefit consumers who will have new and exciting ways to enhance their consumption of sports.”
Meanwhile, FanDuel’s CCO Mike Raffensperger is predicting more product innovation.
“More live sports are going digital, both nationally and locally. This is going to create new bad broad opportunities for sponsorship and integrations that exceed the current model available on traditional linear broadcasting.”
Sportradar’s Andrew Bimson also predicted the growth of in-play betting — and the importance of media.
“Streaming platforms are becoming increasingly prominent media partners to leagues and teams. This true convergence of sports, media and betting will provide fans the opportunity to be served betting-related content and even place bets in real time without missing any of the game action, while also crating additional monetization opportunities for rightsholders and media partners.”
Beyond Betting Innovation
While micro-betting and in-play betting dominated the interviews, there were some predictions the executives noted that went beyond betting technology.
Since the successful introduction of the NHL’s Vegas Golden Knights in 2017, major league sports have flocked to the city. And that should give a boost to MGM Resorts properties — and its BetMGM branded sportsbooks. BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt had a unique 2024 outlook, owing to their Las Vegas-centric operations.
“Las Vegas invented the sports betting industry and I believe it will give life to a new era in sports and sports tourism as the destination for marquee events.”
Meanwhile, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins predicts more innovation and emphasis on responsible gaming and sees more utilization of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies.
He noted that “Machine-learning algorithms allow sportsbooks to create a better customer service experience, and will help us to operate more efficiently, and could even help aid responsible gaming programs.” Furthermore, he predicted that “the industry will come together, establishing the US as the gold standard in responsible gaming.”
Regulators, like operators, initially had to work fast to set up the infrastructure to support legalized sports betting. Now that the pace of legalization is slowing, they will be looking to shore up consumer protections.
If Robins' prediction is correct, the industry may be able to stay one step ahead on that front.
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