From Zero to Number One — How FanDuel Casino Took Over the US iGaming Market

FanDuel Casino became the #1 iGaming brand in the US in less than three years. That is not just impressive — it is one of the fastest rises in the history of online gambling. Here is the full story of how they did it, what decisions they made, and why it worked.

What Is iGaming and Why Does It Matter in the US?

iGaming means playing casino games online — slots, roulette, blackjack, live dealer games, and more. It is different from sports betting. In the US, iGaming only became possible after 2018 when federal law changed.

The Law That Changed Everything

In 2018, the US Supreme Court struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, known as PASPA. This law had blocked most forms of online sports betting and gaming across the country. Once PASPA was removed, individual states could legalize online gambling on their own terms. This opened the door for a brand-new, multi-billion dollar industry.

How Big Is the US iGaming Market?

As of now, online casino gaming is legal in only a handful of US states — including New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Delaware. Despite that limited availability, the market is already enormous. Flutter Entertainment, FanDuel’s parent company, projects the total US iGaming market to reach $24 billion by 2030, covering 25% of the adult population. The opportunity is massive, and the race to lead it has been intense.

Where FanDuel Casino Started — and How Far Behind It Was?

Most people know FanDuel as a sports betting brand. That reputation actually worked against FanDuel Casino in the early days. When the casino product launched, it was built on top of the existing sports betting platform — not designed as a standalone casino experience.

A Product That Was Not Ready

When Andrew Gradwell joined FanDuel Casino as Senior Vice President of Product in early 2022, his assessment was blunt. The product was underdeveloped. Competitors like BetMGM and DraftKings had launched with more mature, better-built casino products. FanDuel was already behind on day one.

The team set two clear goals immediately. First, close the product gap with competitors as fast as possible. Second, use the resources and knowledge available through Flutter Entertainment — FanDuel’s parent company — to do it smarter and faster than anyone else could.

The Cross-Sell Problem

At the start, most FanDuel Casino players were not there for the casino. They were sports bettors who had been pushed toward casino games through promotional offers. That is called cross-selling — and it is a short-term tactic, not a long-term strategy.

The team quickly recognized this. They were making money from casino gaming, but it was borrowed traffic. Sports bettors were not loyal casino players. To become a true market leader, FanDuel Casino needed its own audience, its own identity, and its own reasons to exist.

The Strategic Pivot That Changed Everything

The biggest decision the FanDuel Casino leadership team made was also the simplest to explain: stop being a feature of a sportsbook and start being a real casino brand.

The McDonald’s Ice Cream Analogy

Managing Director Asaf Noifeld described the problem with a comparison that says it all. McDonald’s sells ice cream, but nobody goes to McDonald’s for ice cream. They go for burgers, and maybe they get ice cream on the way out. A dedicated gelato shop, however, creates completely different expectations — better flavors, a loyalty program, its own identity.

FanDuel Casino was the McDonald’s ice cream. The goal was to become the gelato shop. That meant building a product and brand that casino players would choose on purpose, not just stumble into from a sports betting app.

Building a Brand Identity From Scratch

The marketing team, led by VP of Marketing Daniele Phillips, moved away from sports stars and celebrity endorsements. Instead, they focused on building an identity that spoke directly to casino players — a very different audience from sports bettors.

Online casino gaming in the US is legal in only a small number of states. That made national advertising campaigns wasteful. So the team went hyper-local. They focused TV ad spend on specific designated market areas in licensed states and used digital channels to fill the gaps. They also had to reach new demographics — particularly women and older players — who were simply not part of the sports betting audience at all.

The Flutter Edge — Why Global Experience Gave FanDuel a Local Advantage?

FanDuel Casino is part of Flutter Entertainment, one of the largest online gambling groups in the world. Flutter owns brands like PokerStars, Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Vegas, Betfair, and Paddy Power. This global network became one of FanDuel Casino’s biggest advantages.

What the Flutter Edge Actually Means?

The Flutter Edge is the ability to take expertise, technology, and proven strategies from Flutter’s global brands and apply them to new markets. Instead of starting from scratch, FanDuel Casino could draw on years of experience from some of the best-performing online casino brands in the world.

The leadership team itself was a direct product of this. Noifeld came from PokerStars. Other team members brought experience from Sky Vegas and Sky Betting & Gaming in the UK. They had already built market-leading products. They knew what worked and what did not.

UK Playbook, US Adaptation

One of the most impactful early moves was adapting a product called Reward Machine — a daily free-to-play game that gives players a chance to win up to $2,000. This concept had already been proven at Sky Vegas in the UK. The team took that playbook and rebuilt it for US players.

Around 50% of the early US strategy came directly from what had worked in the UK. But the other 50% had to be completely rethought. US casino players have different expectations — especially around jackpots and loyalty programs. The team had to learn and adapt fast.

Rebuilding the Platform From the Ground Up

One of the boldest and most important moves FanDuel Casino made was migrating off a third-party technology platform and building its own.

Why Third-Party Platforms Hold You Back?

When your casino runs on someone else’s technology, you are limited. You cannot customize the experience deeply. You cannot personalize promotions at scale. You cannot respond fast when something needs to change. FanDuel Casino was on a third-party platform in its early days, and it was a ceiling on what they could build.

Commercial VP James Davison described the platform migration as one of the most transformational moments in the brand’s history. Moving to a proprietary in-house platform gave the team full control over the product, the promotions, the games, and the customer experience.

Learning From Netflix, TikTok, and Spotify

The team did not just look at other casinos for inspiration. They studied how the best digital consumer products in the world keep users engaged. Netflix recommends content based on what you watch. TikTok personalizes your feed the moment you open the app. Spotify knows your music taste better than you do.

FanDuel Casino applied the same thinking to online gambling. One early example was adding video trailers to games, so players could preview a slot before it loaded. Personalized promotions and game recommendations followed. The goal was to make every player feel like the experience was built for them — because increasingly, it was.

How FanDuel Casino Built Real Loyalty?

Getting players to sign up is one thing. Keeping them is another. FanDuel Casino invested heavily in retention from the beginning.

Solving the Jackpot Problem

Jackpots are central to the US casino experience. Big daily jackpots attract players and keep them coming back. In the early days, FanDuel Casino did not have a proper jackpot product. That was a significant gap.

To fix it quickly, FanDuel Casino acquired a company called BeyondPlay, which specialized in jackpot mechanics and site-wide jackpot systems. The result was a jackpot feature that gives every FanDuel Casino player the option to add a small amount to any wager and enter the pool for a jackpot win. Since launching, the feature has generated more than 150,000 unique jackpot wins.

The Rewards Club

FanDuel Casino also launched its own Rewards Club, designed to be simpler and more engaging than traditional points-based loyalty schemes. The program resets monthly, giving players a fresh start each time. Rewards are meaningful without being complicated. The idea was to give players a reason to stay — not just a points balance to stare at.

Exclusive Game Titles

FanDuel Casino secured exclusive game launches to give players something they could not find anywhere else. Titles like Fort Knox Cats and World of Wonka — a branded slot tied to the Willy Wonka movie franchise — brought players in and gave the brand clear points of difference from its competitors. Exclusive content is hard to copy and drives direct loyalty.

The Numbers — How FanDuel Casino Reached Number One?

The results of this strategy are clear in the data.

From Behind to First Place

Before mid-2023, BetMGM had led the US iGaming market for years. DraftKings then briefly took the top spot in Q3 2023, claiming around 30% market share. FanDuel Casino overtook DraftKings in Q2 2024, and it has not looked back since.

By the end of 2024, FanDuel Casino held approximately 26% of US iGaming revenue market share across licensed states. Heading into 2025, that share grew to nearly 30% — around 3.6 percentage points ahead of DraftKings in second place.

Revenue Growth That Speaks for Itself

FanDuel’s iGaming revenue grew 43% in Q4 2024 alone. Direct-to-casino customer acquisition — players who came specifically for the casino, not cross-sold from sports betting — grew 58% year-over-year in Q2 2024. That number matters more than almost any other. It means the brand-building strategy is working. Real casino players are choosing FanDuel Casino on purpose.

For the full year 2024, Flutter’s US business brought in $5.8 billion in revenue. iGaming contributed $1.5 billion of that — and it is growing faster than the sportsbook. Flutter projects iGaming will represent an increasingly larger share of total revenue going forward.

What Made FanDuel Casino’s Rise Different From Other Brands?

FanDuel Casino did not win by spending the most money or shouting the loudest. Several things set their approach apart.

A Tight Leadership Team With a Shared Vision

Every person who has worked inside FanDuel Casino’s growth story points to the same thing — the team. A small, close-knit leadership group with global experience, shared values, and fast decision-making made bolder moves than competitors with larger, more fragmented organizations.

Noifeld described it simply: competitors have complex organizational structures. FanDuel Casino had alignment. When the team agreed on something, they moved. That speed and cohesion is extremely hard to manufacture and even harder to copy.

Product First, Always

Other brands focused heavily on promotions and bonuses to acquire customers. FanDuel Casino focused first on building a product worth staying for. Bonuses bring people in. A great product makes them come back. That long-term thinking is reflected in their retention numbers and growing direct acquisition rates.

What Comes Next for FanDuel Casino?

Reaching number one is one challenge. Staying there is harder.

More States, More Players

Online casino gaming is still only legal in a small number of US states. As more states move toward legalization, FanDuel Casino is well-positioned to expand rapidly. Each new state launch is a growth opportunity for a brand that already has brand recognition, a proven product, and a loyal player base.

Continued Innovation

The team has been open about the fact that the work is far from done. The platform migration, the jackpot product, the Rewards Club, and exclusive content are all first steps. Personalization, new game formats, and deeper player engagement are the next priorities. In a fast-moving market, standing still is the same as going backwards.

Conclusion

FanDuel Casino’s rise to number one was not luck. It was the result of clear thinking, fast execution, and a team that had already built winners before. They identified a weak product early, fixed it without excuses, and built a real brand where there was none. The Flutter Edge gave them a global head start, but it was their local adaptation and focus on the player experience that actually won the market. In an industry where most brands compete on bonuses and promotions, FanDuel Casino competed on product — and that made all the difference.

FAQs

When did FanDuel Casino become the number one iGaming brand in the US?

FanDuel Casino overtook DraftKings in Q2 2024 and held the top spot through the end of 2024 and into 2025.

What is iGaming?

iGaming refers to playing casino games online — like slots, blackjack, roulette, and live dealer games — through a website or mobile app.

How is FanDuel Casino different from FanDuel Sportsbook?

FanDuel Sportsbook is for sports betting. FanDuel Casino is a separate product focused entirely on online casino games. They share the same brand but operate as distinct experiences.

What is the Flutter Edge?

The Flutter Edge is the advantage FanDuel gets from being part of Flutter Entertainment. It means sharing technology, strategies, and expertise from Flutter’s other global brands like PokerStars and Sky Vegas.

Is FanDuel Casino available in all US states?

No. Online casino gaming is only legal in a limited number of US states, including New Jersey, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and Delaware. FanDuel Casino operates only where it is legally permitted.

What made FanDuel Casino grow so fast?

A combination of strong leadership, platform migration to in-house technology, exclusive game content, a proper jackpot product, and a focus on building a standalone casino brand — not just cross-selling to sports bettors.