2018 was the turning point for the US sports betting industry. With the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) ruled unconstitutional by the Federal Court, all 50 states were allowed to regulate sports betting within their borders.
To date, most states have embraced sports betting. Namely, there are more than 30 that legalized it in one form or another, with some of the major markets being New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. This created a multi-billion dollar industry, with revenue figures expected to show an annual growth rate for at least the next few years.
The US is currently home to several dozen retail and online sportsbooks. Still, only a select few are present in nearly every regulated state, accounting for the largest portion of the market.
FanDuel is the absolute industry leader with close to 50% market share. DraftKings follows with around 30%, while BetMGM and Caesars trail behind with a market share of under 10%.
With that in mind, let’s meet the CEOs who run these market-leading sportsbooks and see what they say about the rapidly growing sports betting industry and plans for the future.
FanDuel CEO Amy Howe
Amy Howe was born and raised in upstate New York. She received a bachelor’s degree in business and marketing from Cornell University and an MBA in marketing management from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Business School.
She worked for a number of companies in various fields, including information technology, management consulting, and entertainment, before being hired as the COO of Ticketmaster in 2015. In 2021, Amy Howe was named the new CEO of FanDuel, replacing Matt King.
In an interview for Gambling.com, Amy had this to say when asked about the expected industry trends for 2023:
“We expect the sports betting industry to stay in growth mode as evidenced by the strong performance of newly launched states.”
Howe was pleased with the current state of the company in terms of growth but also optimistic about future plans:
“We’re the clear number one sportsbook operator with a 50% market share, and we’re coming off our best state launches to date here in 2023. As we move into the year’s balance, our focus remains on being full-year EBITDA profitable for 2023.”
DraftKings CEO Jason Robins
Jason D. Robins is one of the co-founders of DraftKings and has served as the CEO since the company’s very beginnings in 2012, making him the only CEO on this list to start their own sports betting business.
Robins has transformed DraftKings from a fantasy sports site into a full-fledged iGaming platform stretching across all major verticals. He has closely worked with regulators and policymakers to pass legislation and bring legal sports betting to a number of states.
Currently, DraftKings sits comfortably in second place regarding market share behind FanDuel but is slowly narrowing the gap. Like FanDuel, DraftKings has a very aggressive approach to entering new markets and is present in over 20 states, as well as Ontario, Canada.
Jason Robins was pleased about a successful 2022 and shared general plans for the current year:
“I am very pleased with how we concluded 2022, with continued top-line growth and a strong focus on expense management… Moving into 2023, we will continue to drive revenue growth and focus on expense management to accelerate our Adjusted EBITDA growth. We have already taken several actions that resulted in an increase to our revenue guidance and significant improvement in our Adjusted EBITDA guidance.”
BetMGM CEO Adam Greenblatt
Adam Greenblatt was born and raised in South Africa, where he attended the University of Cape Town, from which he earned his bachelor’s degree in business science. He previously worked in corporate development at Entain Holdings (BetMGM’s parent company), prior to which he had a similar position at Ladbrokes and LadbrokesCoral.
While significantly behind FanDuel and DraftKings, BetMGM still has a strong foothold in the US sports betting industry.
Greenblatt was very pleased about the company’s growth, particularly the sports betting division:
“We had record months in our sports and gaming business, with sports delivering the biggest growth percentage. Our work in that area, particularly around bonus optimization and optimizing our player base to realize its potential, is proving unbelievably productive.”
Caesars CEO Tom Reeg
Tom Reeg took over as the CEO of Eldorado Resorts in 2016 and played one of the key roles in acquiring Caesars Entertainment in 2020 and William Hill in 2021.
The acquisition of William Hill was particularly important as the company’s US offerings were rebranded to create Caesars Sportsbook.
Regarding Caesars’ successful 2022 and plans for the near future, Reeg noted:
“Caesars Sportsbook delivered significantly improved operating results during the fourth quarter, which sets the foundation for a strong 2023. We’re anticipating that [Caesars] Digital will be an EBITDA contributor for us this year. And when I say that, I’m talking about overall and both verticals. I expect sports betting and iGaming to be EBITDA positive.”
