iGB Intelligence reports Social Gaming report | Page 30

Conclusion test is whether they can transcend the early adopters and scale up sufficiently to appeal to the mass-market, casual bettors. This is no easy task in countries such as the UK, where gamblers are spoilt for choice in terms of betting options and products.   Fantasy or reality? The DFS operators launching in the UK and elsewhere are bullish about the potential, yet this form of P2P gambling is still judged to be, if not obscure, then certainly unfamiliar to most season-long fantasy football players and regular punters alike. The operators and platform suppliers, unsurprisingly, would argue that it is still early days for DFS in Europe, and that their offering is more fun, skillful and social than striking a one-time bet with a faceless sportsbook. Yet there’s no escaping the fact that the phenomenal growth of DFS in the US (before all the legal challenges) 26 was mainly down to sports betting being outlawed in most states (DFS benefiting from the 2006 UIGEA carve-out). In addition, American sports are very statsorientated and matches take place virtually seven days a week. Plus, the US has the population to support DFS. In the UK and other European markets, however, football dominates while legal online and land-based sports betting are omnipresent and ingrained in society. Punters don’t tend to go through the rigmarole of assembling a roster of players in a bid to outsmart dozens, hundreds or thousands of players to win a share of a guaranteed prize pool. We will have to wait and see whether DraftKings or FanDuel can overcome their lack of brand awareness and acquire enough players to sustain them, especially when launching into a saturated and mature betting market such as the UK. Time will tell, as they say. iGaming Business Social Media & Mobile Betting Report