Fanatics' cutting-edge sports betting app raced out of the gate with a record-breaking first week of downloads during the thrilling kick-off of the 2023 NFL season, prompting research firms like Eilers & Krejcik Gaming (EKG) to point to the app’s strong start. Just back in August, Fanatics introduced the Fanatics Sportsbook app in a total of four states including Massachusetts, Maryland, Ohio and Tennessee. In wake of a partial acquisition of PointsBet USA, the app was expanded to cover seven more states late last month, including Colorado, Kansas, Iowa, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. Initial data reveals a strong start and a promising growth to the app’s journey ahead in the world of sports betting.

Pointing to the app’s strong start, EKG underlined, “During the first week of the 2023 NFL season, the Fanatics-PointsBet tandem captured an impressive 14% app download share among a selection of top U.S. OSB brands.”

As already mentioned above, recent download activity in the sports betting landscape accounted for a noteworthy 14% share of the market. Within this share, nearly 9% was grabbed by the newly launched Fanatics Sportsbook app. The remaining 5% was attributed to "PointsBet: A Fanatics Experience." The company implemented this distinctive branding strategy in states where regulatory approval is still pending for the acquisition of PointsBet USA by Fanatics.

The decision by Australia-based PointsBet to offload its USA operations was driven by financial losses in addition to a challenging quest for a substantial market share. Now, Fanatics faces the difficult task of addressing all these issues, but early indicators are quite encouraging. Just last week, the aforementioned “PointsBet: A Fanatics Experience” secured a 5% slice of total sportsbook app downloads, marking a considerable improvement from PointsBet's just 1% share during the same period of 2022.

Data firm EKG also revealed that, during the NFL's opening week, only two other sportsbook operators could increase the number of downloads of their apps, viz. FanDuel and Bet365. While FanDuel experienced moderate growth, Bet365 advanced from a limited operational presence in a few states just a year ago.

The Fanatics Sportsbook app’s impressive debut performance could be attributed, in part, to the use of innovative promotional strategies by the operator. These strategies not only successfully captured the attention of sports betting enthusiasts but also resonated with bettors, contributing to the app's noteworthy initial success.