The U.S. iGaming market is witnessing growing activity from challenger sportsbook operators, as Fanatics, Hard Rock, and bet365 continue to pursue market share from the established duopoly of FanDuel and DraftKings, according to new findings from Bettormetrics.
The trading intelligence firm analysed sportsbook performance across major sporting events during the first four months of 2025, including the NBA, NFL, NHL, MLB, Premier League, and Australian Open. The research focused on key pricing and availability metrics—Uptime, Overround, Shading Time, and Green Time—for leading regulated operators in the U.S. market.
FanDuel and DraftKings maintain a dominant position, jointly controlling over two-thirds of the country’s online betting handle and close to 80% of gross gaming revenue. However, data from Bettormetrics suggests this dominance may gradually face pressure from competitors adopting differentiated strategies.
Fanatics increased its handle share from 5.2 percent to 6.7 percent in the most recent quarter, signalling successful customer acquisition efforts. Hard Rock is also expanding its sportsbook operations beyond Florida, where it currently holds a dominant local position. bet365, known for its competitive pricing in international markets, is pursuing a similar strategy in the U.S., offering some of the lowest overrounds—averaging 5.3 percent across the measured competitions.
While the top two operators remain firmly ahead, the analysis indicates challenger brands are beginning to leverage unique pricing, geographic strategies, and broader brand investment to increase their foothold in a highly-competitive iGaming environment.
Bettormetrics’ research has identified how these three operators are differentiating their in-play trading strategies in order to compete with DraftKings and FanDuel.
For Uptime, Fanatics ranked first overall, even outstripping both FanDuel and DraftKings, with ESPN Bet, bet365 and Hard Rock also in the mix. At the bottom end of the scale, Caesars and BetMGM were lagging by five-to-seven percent.
In Green Time, DraftKings led the way as a consequence of its podium performances for Uptime and Shading Time. Fanatics market-leading Uptime helped it outshine a number of brands, including FanDuel, operating above 80 percent, while Hard Rock and bet365 were both sitting in the high 70 percent range.
In terms of overrounds, bet365, as per historical precedent outside the US appear to be looking to compete heavily on price, averaging 5.3 percent across the six competitions, while BetRivers and ESPN BET bring up the softer end of the market.
Robert Urwin, CEO and co-founder of Bettormetrics, commented: “The two major US sports betting operators have carved out a dominance rarely seen in regulated markets. However, a lot of attention is being put on the brands closing the gap, so we looked at three distinct use cases — bet365 with its global experience, Hard Rock with its Florida monopoly, and Fanatics with its cross-sell acquisition opportunity through non-betting channels.
“It does highlight that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to being a successful sportsbook, and analysing the range of different strategies allows us to really highlight strengths and weaknesses for each operator.”
Alfie Arrand, Sports Trading Analyst at Bettormetrics, added: “It is credit to both the Bettormetrics’ technology and the quality of the data sources available to us that we are able to perform these deep dives and provide these perspectives on the trading strategies of competing sportsbooks.
“While DraftKings and FanDuel are clearly well ahead in both performance and across our metrics, the U.S. market is hotting up as rival sportsbooks look to differentiate themselves to close the gap.”
Bettormetrics monitors and analyses thousands of live in-play sports betting events traded every single week.
Observed performance and competitive analysis by Bettormetrics has already helped traders and analysts discover and identify deficiencies that directly impact sportsbook revenues and profitability.
Data Supplied by Bettormetrics.
