DFS operators cut guarantees as activity falls; Nevada gets first DFS applicant

Daily fantasy sports operators remained in the black in Week 12 of the NFL season despite activity levels falling for the seventh straight week.

According to analysts at DFS number crunchers SuperLobby.com, FanDuel collected just under $21.3m in guaranteed prize pool (GPP) and cash game fees in Week 12, while paying out $19.1m to winners, resulting in an effective margin of 10.3%, up around 0.3 points from the previous week. The fee total is $588k less than FanDuel reported in Week 11 but the improved margin meant revenue was essentially flat week-to-week.

SuperLobby doesn’t yet track cash games at DraftKings, which saw GPP fees fall slightly to $18.5m in Week 12. But DraftKings paid out just $16.5m for an effective margin of 10.7%, up 0.7 points from Week 11, thanks in part a $1m reduction in its marquee NFL contest guarantee.

The cuts are continuing for both sites in Week 13, with FanDuel cutting its Sunday Million guarantee from $2m to $1.75m, while DraftKings is shaving its Millionaire Maker from $3m to $2.5m. DraftKings has also slashed the contest’s entry fee from $20 down to just $3 while quadrupling the maximum number of entries to nearly one million in a bid to reverse the downward activity trend.