Many of the states with legalized online sports betting have reported the numbers for April. Bank of America analyst Shaun C. Kelley breaks down what April brought and which companies are winning and losing.
April Sports Betting / iGaming Insights
Online sports betting increased 1,174% year over year for the states that have reported. Sports betting sales were down 19% in April compared to the month of March, when the NCAA March Madness Tournament was held.
“Neither metric is a perfect measure of health,” Kelley wrote in a note.
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The year is compared to a limited sports calendar in the previous year. The monthly number is similar to a 15% decrease from the previous month in the more mature New Jersey market last April.
“We expect the OSB numbers to be less meaningful until the football season starts and the competition heats up,” he said.
The iGaming GGR rose 142% year-on-year in April and decreased 4% compared to the previous month. The key takeaway for Kelley was that the top three states of New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania had their second best iGaming months ever in April.
The reopening of the US is an interesting test case ”for the iGaming market in terms of durability from offline casino to online casino games.
Winner and Loser
One of the companies that has seen declines in the online sports betting market is Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ: PENN) and its Barstool Sportsbook brand. Barstool saw market share gain in Pennsylvania and a decline in Michigan in April. Barstool Sportsbook debuted in Illinois and took an 8% market share.
“We think Barstool’s loyal audience will be an important asset in this highly competitive football season,” said Kelley.
BetMGM, a joint venture of MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM), New Jersey, Michigan, saw declines in online sports betting market share. However, the company saw growth in its iGaming segment, hitting a new high of 39% market share in Michigan.
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“We expect that BetMGM could gain relative market share in the iGaming segment in the coming months, as the cross-sell dependency is lower than with the DFS brands.”
DraftKings Inc. (NASDAQ: DKNG) holds a top market share position in almost all of its markets. Kelley points out a risk that comes with the termination of personal registration requirements in Illinois. The iGaming strength of DraftKings is an important point for Kelley for the future.
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