Introduction
The Fantasy Sports & Gaming Association prides itself on providing the industry and our members with the most accurate, up-to-date and impactful metrics to help guide business decisions. All of the in-depth statistics are free of charge to our members. Just one of the many member benefits that our association offers.
Industry At A Glance
(Note: the information on this page is drawn from several research studies, each with a slightly different cross-section of subjects. Some were U.S. and Canada (12+), some were U.S. only (18+), some were people who identified as serious fantasy players or sports bettors – so please allow for some minor discrepancies when cobbling numbers together across the categories)
Demographics (from our 2019 survey):
Fantasy players
- 81% male, 19% female
- 50% are between the ages of 18 -34 (average age is 37.7)
- 67% are employed full-time
- 47% make more than $75,000 (national average is 34%)
Sports bettors
- 80% male, 20% female
- 50% are between the ages of 18-34 (average age is 38.1)
- 67% are employed full-time
- 45% make more than $75,000 (national average is 34%)
Currently, 19% of Americans aged 18+ participate in sports betting. And 19% of Americans aged 18+ participate in fantasy sports.
While we don’t have historical sports betting participation numbers, the fantasy sports number has grown 6% from 2014 (when 13% of Americans aged 18+ participated).
78% of fantasy sports players bet on sports in 2018. And 75% of sports bettors played fantasy sports in 2018.
- 78% of fantasy participants play fantasy football.
- 39% play fantasy baseball
- 19% play fantasy basketball (NBA)
- 18% play fantasy hockey (NHL)
- 14% play fantasy soccer
- 13% play fantasy golf
- 11% play fantasy esports
- 5% participate in fantasy Bachelor
- 62% of sports bettors places a wager on an NFL game in 2018
- 36% bet on baseball
- 36% bet on the NBA
- 27% bet on NCAA football
- 26% bet on NCAA basketball
- 21% bet on the NHL
- 17% bet on UFC
- 15% bet on esports
Our research found that sports bettors and fantasy players over-index on nearly every level of consumption. For example, sports bettors (56%) and fantasy players (57%) use Instagram far more than the general population (34%)
Other examples include:
- Visited a fine dining restaurant in the last year (89% sports bettors, 87% fantasy players, 68% general population)
- Visited a sports bar (90%, 89%, 52%)
- Used Snapchat (32%, 31%, 16%)
- Had food delivered (80%, 78%, 46%)
- Used a food delivery app (69%, 69%, 28%)
- Bought Nike apparel (45%, 43%, 17%)
In 2018, our research found that 79% of fantasy players said there’s at least a good possibility they’d bet on sports if and when a bill is passed to legalize it in their state.
Our 2017 study found that the average fantasy sports player spends a significant amount annually on research materials, subscriptions, parties, fees, and more.
These include:
-
- 73% of fantasy players who pay for non-cash prizes (like a trophy or belt)
- 84% of fantasy players have a draft party. The median spend for the league’s party is $653.
- at these draft parties, 93% of leagues spend money on food ($180 league median spend), 91% buy alcohol ($189), 86% buy soda ($100), and 73% have spent on live entertainment ($160).
- 68% of fantasy players spend money on a league punishment (like a tattoo, toilet bowl trophy, etc)
In 2017, there were 59.3 million people playing fantasy sports in the USA and Canada.
| FIGURE 1. Number of fantasy sports players by year | |
| Year | Estimated Number of Players |
| 1988 | 500,000 |
| 1991-1994 | 1 – 3 Million |
| 2003 | 15.2 Million |
| 2004 | 13.5 Million |
| 2005 | 12.6 Million |
| 2006 | 18 Million |
| 2007 | 19.4 Million |
| 2008 | 29.9 Million |
| 2009 | 28.4 Million |
| 2010 | 32 Million |
| 2011 | 35.9 Million |
| 2014 | 41.5 Million |
| 2015 | 56.8 Million |
| 2016 | 57.4 Million |
| 2017 | 59.3 Million |
| FIGURE 2. US-only, 18+ year old fantasy sports players | |
| Year | Estimated Number of Players |
| 2015 | 42 Million |
| 2016 | 42.8 Million |
| 2017 | 43.2 Million |
| 2019 | 45.9 Million |