Fanatics To Be In Every Major State By 2023 NFL Season
By this time next year, expect the sports betting landscape to have a new addition.
During the Sports Business Journal World Congress of Sports, Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin said customers could expect to see the BetFanatics Sportbook debut in several major states next year.
“In the betting business, we’re gonna start launching in multiple states in January,” Rubin said.
Where can customers expect to find BetFanatics?
Sports betting is currently legal in 30 states, plus Washington, DC. However, don’t expect BetFanatics to launch in every single one. Judging from Rubin’s comments, experts anticipate the sports merchandise company will launch in 15-20 states.
“We will be in every major state — other than New York — by next football season.”
< p>The top 10 sports betting states by revenue are:
- New Jersey
- Nevada
- Pennsylvania
- Illinois
- New York
- Indiana
- Colorado
- Michigan
- Virginia
- Arizona
Why not New York?
In New York, sports betting operators must pay a 51% tax rate for ten years.
According to Rubin, it’s impossible to make money with that model in place.
“You can’t make money [in New York]. We do like to make money, by the way. It’s a crazy concept in business where we have revenue, and we try to have profits to follow it,” Rubin said.
Fanatics and a handful of other sports betting operators, including Penn Entertainment, applied to operate in New York last year but were rejected.
A long-term approach to the business
In addition to its betting business, Rubin said Fanatics’ other business segments “could be $8 billion even in the next decade,” in profits.
Fanatics paid $500 million in March to acquire trading card giant Topps Sports and Entertainment. Shortly after that, the National Football League (NFL) invested $320 million in Fanatics during the company’s funding round.
Other investors include:
- The NFL Players Association
- National Hockey League
- Major League Baseball (MLB) + its player’s union
- BlackRock
- Fidelity
- Dell founder Michael Dell
Fanatics raised $1.5 billion during its last funding round, bringing its overall valuation just north of $27 billion.
“We also have a very long-term approach to the business. Things don’t happen overnight,” Rubin said.
“We will [launch] on a very calculated basis. We’re not in a rush to do everything at once. Because if you do that, you screw it up.”
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