Fanatics Raises Its Game With Online Casino

In order to stand out sometimes, you need to stand alone.

That is one of the dynamics that came into play last week when Fanatics launched its standalone online casino app in four states: New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and West Virginia. Players in the Mountaineer State also have access to a web version, which will soon be available in the other states.

After building its brand name first as an apparel merchandise company and then as a mobile sportsbook, Fanatics Casino is the next logical step in expanding its gaming profile. The original product launched in 2021, but getting to this point was a multi-year process that included trials, tribulations, breaking some things, and re-thinking others.

Striking while the iron is hot

As a wagering brand, be it internet casino or mobile sports betting, Fanatics is hot. In states where individual operator revenue figures are available for iGaming, Fanatics Casino saw year-over-year revenue nearly triple in Michigan to $9.2 million for March, and operator winnings reached an all-time monthly high in New Jersey at $5.3 million.

Scot McClintic, chief operating officer of Fanatics Betting and Gaming, explained that the building blocks for growth start with a simple premise: listening to users.

“I think one of our amazing superpowers is we actually listen to our customers,” he said in an interview with Casino Reports to discuss the launch. “Customers are not just a number. We actually listen to them and we actually take their feedback to heart.”

That is evident with some features within the standalone app. Using it means bettors no longer have to go through the sports betting app to find the nested casino gateway. In terms of content, the library of games curated from both internal and external developers reaches into the thousands, and in-house offerings that include Fanatics Fire Roulette and Fanatics Multi-hand Blackjack continue to be popular draws.

The standalone casino app also has a VIP section, with its biggest distinction the offering of higher minimum and maximum wagers.

The $2 million cash drop doesn’t hurt either. Starting Thursday for the next two months, Fanatics will draw winners and drop a share of $250,000 into their player accounts. One winner will be selected each week to claim a top prize of $25,000.

“We get a lot of feedback from our customers that we talk to every day, whether it’s VIPs or casual [bettors],” said McClintic, who noted the users’ influence in terms of lobby design and easy access to features such as Spin to Win. “We’ve got ongoing research and ongoing user interviews on a literal daily basis to understand what’s working for customers and what’s not.”

All about that FanCash

FanCash continues to be a popular feature in both gaming verticals, and accruing FanCash for features including casino credit, bonus bets, experiences such as Fanatics Fest, and exclusive apparel remain important selling points. On the app, a bettor’s FanCash balance is available on the screen and accrues during play.

There are multiple ways bettors can accrue FanCash, whether it be through standard play of their favorite games or exploring new onboarded games that Fanatics will showcase in the app with boosted FanCash availability. FanCash can be converted at a 50% proration for bonus bets, a percentage McClintic said made sense for launch.

“You make the best decision you can at that point in time with the data that you have,” he said. “What we’ve tried to hone in on was, it’s a lot more straightforward to the customer and we think it’s more transparent and fair and consistent. You always know what you’re earning.

“When you convert [FanCash], this is the conversion rate and you know it’s 1x play-through … and customers appreciate that more than the higher play-through with a 1-to-1 conversion.”

How did we get here?

McClintic said there was a point, even as late as last June, where Fanatics Casino could have gone sideways. Even with committed investment for product, design, and engineering, McClintic called last summer “an inflection point” since the project was at its low.

“The hardest part was actually last year, where we had to get the casino live, we had to get more games on site, we didn’t have casino credit, we didn’t have high-limit versions of anything, and the lobby was very big and very clunky,” he explained. “Because you’re building, you’re hiring people, you’re learning. You’re making mistakes. You have to undo stuff to then re-do stuff.”

McClintic was no stranger to these ups and downs as chief product officer and general manager of Barstool Sportsbook & Casino at Penn National Gaming prior to his arrival at Fanatics. He described the process at Fanatics as taking “two steps forward, three steps back,” then “two steps for one step back,” to now where “it feels like we’re really just marching forward.”

One way he expects that to continue is through the professionally diverse background of the 1,200-strong staff of developers and engineers. He estimates 80% of the workforce comes from outside gaming, which brings benefits and challenges.

“You have to learn the industry, you have to learn it really quickly,” McClintic said. “And then, how do we take the best of where people came from outside of gaming and then marry that up with people like myself who’ve been in gaming for a long time to make me think differently and others think differently to get a better outcome and answer?

“And that’s happening in real time, which is really cool.”