Sports betting is becoming legal in more and more states across the country, and brands are already vying to take advantage of new markets as they open up.
When it comes to sports betting on an app (as opposed to placing a bet in person at a casino or other venue), it seems that two names come to mind for many Americans: DraftKings and FanDuel. These two companies lead the pack when it comes to nationwide awareness of sports betting apps.
But the third-place sportsbook app above, from Barstool, proves that new brands can still enter this market and make a name for themselves almost immediately. After all, the Barstool Sportsbook app launched only in Pennsylvania just last month, and already one-quarter of Americans say they’re aware that it exists.
The trouble is, none of these apps are legal to use in all 50 U.S. states — not even close.
It’s a patchwork of legality so far, with each app being “live” as a sports betting provider in a unique group of states (see the chart below for details). Awareness of these apps is understandably higher across the board when zooming in only on the U.S. states where they’re able to be used legally.
As you can see, adoption rates remain fairly low, even where it’s legal. The two top dogs — DraftKings and FanDuel — each only attract the interest of six percent of the 21-and-up population of their respective groups of states. That’s about one in every 16 adults.
Still, there’s lots of room for these apps to grow, with more than half of the U.S. population at large still unaware that they’re out there — and several more states potentially ready to “go live” with app-based sports betting in the near future.
