Fanatics Betting & Gaming, in its relentless quest to expand its sports betting platform across the nation, has recently launched in Connecticut, replacing Rush Street Interactive as the exclusive partner of the Connecticut Lottery Corporation.
Welcome to Connecticut
After acquiring the U.S. assets of PointsBet in June, Fanatics Betting & Gaming has aggressively pursued entry into the nation’s sports betting markets. Connecticut marks the ninth state to welcome the sports betting brand into its market along with Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Ohio, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, and Colorado.
But as in all other sports betting markets, the new challenger must contend with the duopoly of DraftKings and FanDuel. The former is the pacesetter in Connecticut trailed closely by the latter, and gaining a foothold to challenge the two will be a formidable task but one that the company is eager to explore.
No More Rush
After replacing Rush Street Interactive (RSI) the Connecticut Lottery Corporation’s exclusive partner, Fanatics will try to carve its own niche into a market that is dominated by the industry’s giants. DraftKings and FanDuel represent 85% of Connecticut’s combined market share with RSI’s PlaySugarHouse accounting for the roughly 15% remainder.
Greg Smith, President and CEO of the Connecticut Lottery Corporation, spoke about the partnership with Fanatics a short time ago:
“Fanatics is the only true sports brand in the gaming space and has established itself as an innovator in the industry. We have been impressed with the Fanatics team, their aggressive entry into the U.S. sports betting market, and we are excited to see how they redefine the sports betting customer experience here in Connecticut.”
Fanatics Announces Its Features
Fanatics Betting & Gaming revealed on its website the many features mobile customers will enjoy:
- Building a better sportsbook: The Fanatics Sportsbook app was built natively on iOS and Android. The design, speed, and quality of the navigation experience rival the sports betting apps in the market today that were not built specifically for iOS and Android.
- The most rewarding online sportsbook: It’s all thanks to FanCash – The Currency of Sport™. FanCash, the backbone of the Fanatics loyalty program, can be converted dollar-for-dollar into Bonus Bets and can also be used to purchase your favorite team merchandise at Fanatics.com.
- From curated to a more personalized experience: Customers know what they want to bet on, and a sportsbook should know it too. Introducing the Fanatics Sportsbook Discover page with marquee games, trending bets, promos, and the rewards you want most. In the near future, the Discover page will be personalized to the customer’s favorite teams, sports, and markets.
- Search: Search easily for the bet you want and bet directly from the results. The Fanatics Sportsbook offers industry-leading search functionality, including a search bar, recent searches, autocomplete, synonym/alias, and deep linking to leagues, events, and markets.
- Live streaming: The Fanatics Sportsbook, in partnership with Genius Sports Limited, was one of the first legal sportsbooks to launch BetVision, a first-of-its-kind live sports betting product that enables customers to place bets while live streaming select professional football games in the sportsbook app.
As for its retail locations, Fanatics will be upgrading those 10 lottery facilities replete with improved signage, upgraded odds monitors, and self-service kiosks.
The changes are already underway at Connecticut retail venues like Bobby V’s in Stamford and Windsor Locks; Sports Haven in New Haven; Winners in their five locations – Hartford, Manchester, Milford, New Britain, and Waterbury; as well as Hartford’s XL Center and Arooga’s Grill House and Sports Bar in Shelton.
