Europe is already well understood to be huge on sports betting – or, at least, sports betting is widely legislated for in Europe, unlike most of the US. Now, a related gaming movement, one which has rapidly gotten big over the pond, is starting to make inroads in Europe.
Daily fantasy sports has flourished in the USA thanks largely to legal loopholes / specifications which have allowed it to get started, accompanied by a dearth of any other legal forms of sports speculation. In today’s piece, we consider a number of recent or anticipated ventures in the burgeoning European DFS world, as well as speculations on its marketability and likely outlook on the continent.
DraftKings is one big player looking to expand into Europe, especially in the wake of its failed efforts to merge with their main competitor in the US, FanDuel. Stepping in to compete with the local DFS efforts, DraftKings were one of the first providers to obtain a Maltese Controlled Skill Gaming license. They have started UK efforts, and plan to take the whole continent by storm, given time. Their next stated country to work with is Germany, partly based on an awareness of the popularity in fantasy football there.
DraftKing’s offerings in the UK have so far fared well, seeing 20% month on month growth over the first three quarters of their operation. There are some modest club partnerships being formed as well.
Malta is a country never far behind the action when it comes to gambling services, and daily fantasy sports is no exception. They played host to the European Fantasy Sports Summit (EFSS) in late November, with speakers focused on the “state of the union” for the sector, regulatory efforts, and DFS as “an iGaming vertical against a millennial reality”. The summit was supported by DraftKings, Oulala (the first licensed daily fantasy sports company in Malta, and a business-to-business provider) and Funtasy.de amongst others. The event, which took place in Ta’Qali’s main convention hall, was widely considered to be a firm success.
One other early presence in the market is Sweden based Betsson AB, which has announced that it will be adding a new DFS platform in association with Scout Gaming Group. Full integration is expected by early 2018, and the service will go out to all Betsson AB subsidiaries. Scout Gaming CEO Andres Ternstrom has stated that DFS is expected to be the next new growth vertical in online gaming.
These new ventures exploring the market are evidence enough on their own that there should be room for growth in the DFS space in Europe. Certainly, a continent with a massive body of sports fans and dedicated sports bettors is not a bad place to start, whether you’re a big player coming in from overseas, or a homegrown start-up within Europe.
