Fanatics Could Spend $1 Billion on Sportsbook Ads to Chase DraftKings and FanDuel

Fanatics could spend as much as $1 billion advertising its sportsbook in 2027, up from about $350 million this year, chief executive Michael Rubin has told Bloomberg. He wants to catch DraftKings and FanDuel, the two companies that sit far ahead of every other online sportsbook in the United States.

In the Bloomberg interview, published on October 2, Rubin didn’t dress up where his betting business stands. He called it “A distant No. 3.” This year’s marketing budget is $350 million, he said, “and we could spend $800 million or $1 billion next year.”

The aggressive capital commitment is designed to erode the dominant market share held by industry leaders DraftKings Inc. and FanDuel Group, which together control over 70% of the US online sports betting market.

A Budget Almost Three Times Bigger

Rubin, the chairman and chief executive of Fanatics, explained the change of plan this way: “We’re going to spend a lot more money in marketing next year than we had thought we were going to spend because we’re saying ‘how do we close the gap, and how do we really grow our market share’?”

The money is there. Fanatics expects about $14 billion in sales this year, up 40%, with roughly $2 billion of it from betting and gaming. Bloomberg reported that the company should produce $2 billion in free cash flow in 2026 and end the year with about $1 billion in net cash and no debt. Spending $1 billion on ads would use up half of that cash flow. Rubin also said he is under no pressure to take the company public, and he called being private an advantage over his listed rivals.

Fanatics only started taking bets in 2023. Its sportsbook now runs in 23 states plus Washington D.C., according to the company’s own count. On August 27 the NFL added it as a third sports betting partner next to DraftKings and FanDuel.

What the Top Two Already Spend

Rubin told Bloomberg that 2027 will be “more complicated” for the industry because Fanatics will be “spending at the same level as FanDuel and DraftKings.” Their filings show what that level is.

DraftKings booked $1.38 billion in sales and marketing expense for 2025 and another $724.3 million in the first half of 2026, according to figures it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. That line is broader than advertising alone, but it is the closest public number.

Flutter, the owner of FanDuel, reported $353 million of US sales and marketing expense for the second quarter of 2026. That was 61% more than a year earlier, and Flutter’s results put the jump down to the FIFA World Cup and its new FanDuel Predicts product.

The 10% Claim Checks Out in One State

Rubin puts Fanatics at about 10% of US sports betting. State regulators publish the numbers operator by operator, and Massachusetts is one place to test him. The Massachusetts Gaming Commission’s August reports show Fanatics wrote $62.4 million of the $569.6 million in bets placed with the state’s seven online sportsbooks. That’s about 11%.

DraftKings took $276.5 million of that, almost half, and FanDuel took $145.6 million. Nationally, Flutter says FanDuel holds 39% of US sportsbook gross gaming revenue. It’s a long way up from third.

Prediction Markets Push Up the Price

Rubin doesn’t pretend the timing is easy. The timing of Fanatics’ advertising expansion coincides with shifting market dynamics introduced by event-based prediction platforms. “FanDuel and DraftKings competed with themselves two years ago,” he told Bloomberg. “Now they have Fanatics, Kalshi, and Polymarket. All the marketing costs are up.”

Fanatics is on both sides of that fight. It launched its own prediction platform, Fanatics Markets, last December, and on July 27 it agreed to buy a federally registered exchange and clearinghouse from BGC Group. Fanatics Markets is live in 22 states and four territories. Flutter has made the same move into prediction markets with FanDuel Predicts.

Casino Players Get the Same Pitch

The spending isn’t only about sports. Fanatics Casino operates in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan and West Virginia, four of the US states that license online casinos. In September the company folded it into a single app with the sportsbook and the prediction market.

Rubin’s selling point is FanCash, the reward currency that works across the whole company. “Every time you bet, win or lose, we give you FanCash,” he said. An ad war could end up in front of players the same way, as richer sign-up offers. Flutter’s second-quarter results already show its US sportsbook promotions rising to 5.4% of handle, up 140 basis points.

Flutter’s US business spent $353 million on sales and marketing in a single quarter. Fanatics has $350 million for the whole of 2026.