Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) could be slowly threatening the lottery and casino industries. A new poll released by Leger, The Research Intelligence Group, shows that a majority of online Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) players are spending money on the activity by trading off their spend on lottery and casino games. Among the 15% of U.S. adults who claim to have played DFS this season, more than three out of five (61% of DFS players) agree that their Fantasy Football spend this season has lowered their spend on Lottery games such as Powerball, Mega Millions, Scratch or Instant Games, or other Lottery draw games.

As part of the core base of lottery players, 84% of DFS players mentioned playing a lottery game in the past month – more than twice the level cited by American adults overall (41%). With a majority of these Daily Fantasy Sports players claiming to be spending less on lottery games in general, could further increases in their DFS spend lead to an increased impact on their lottery outlay?

"Specific to state lotteries, this is an external factor contributing to a perfect storm," said Lance Henik, Senior Account Manager at Leger. "First, consider the reduction in blockbuster jackpots from Powerball or Mega Millions that may have impacted cross-play for other games in many state lotteries, especially among the casual player base. Next, consider the preference among younger players for online gaming, especially for those platforms that allow players to put their 'skin in the game,' is being met with the DFS option. Finally, with many state lotteries exercising extreme caution in implementing online platforms for their own games, playing catch up in this quickly evolving market further exacerbates the threat that DFS presents in stemming the growth of state lottery sales."

FanDuel players claim an average spend of $37 each time they play, narrowly behind the $39 per-play recounted by those who use DraftKings exclusively. Players who play on both FanDuel and DraftKings report a significantly higher spend across both sites.

The Leger research also shows a majority of DFS players, 56%, agree that their Fantasy Football spend this season has lowered their spend on casino gambling. This may explain the motivation behind the state of Nevada having ruled last week that participation in DFS falls into the state's definition of gambling, joining Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana and Washington as states that prohibit this activity. Currently, DFS has been classified as a game of skill and therefore is not considered gambling under the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), but if a growing number of lawmakers get their way, this may change in the near future.

Daily Fantasy Sports participants are entrenched players: More than four out of five (82%) DFS players play on FanDuel at least once a week.

"It appears Daily Fantasy Sports is serving up a double economic whammy for state governments right now." believes Simon Jaworski, Senior Vice President at Leger, and one of the world's leading experts on lottery and gaming. "These fantasy behemoths are not currently filling the local coffers with tax, due to their private ownership, which when coupled with potentially lower tax revenue from the DFS player's reduced lottery and casino spending, it is certainly a situation worth monitoring."

However, major TV networks should also take note, as time is becoming a bigger issue with daily fantasy play. Leger's research shows more than half of DFS players agree (either completely or somewhat) that the time they spend keeping up on Fantasy Football, including watching Fantasy Football television shows and NFL games, is getting in the way of their ability to watch their favorite shows.

Methodology

The survey was conducted online with 1,004 respondents, 18 years of age or older, among the U.S. population from October 15th through October 20th, 2015, and was balanced/weighted to statistically represent the country by age, gender, ethnicity, and region. Based on this sample size, the results carry a margin of error of approximately ± 3.1% at the 95% confidence level.

About Leger

Leger is the largest Canadian-owned polling, research, and strategic marketing firm with 600 employees in Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, Edmonton, and Calgary in Canada, and Philadelphia in the United States. Leger is part of the WIN network partners in more than 100 countries, making Leger not only the largest Canadian-owned company in its sector, but also an internationally recognized brand.

Leger provides its clients with unique expertise in market research and information technology, in addition to business consulting and strategies in the fields of customer satisfaction, positioning, brand management, communication efficiency, corporate reputation, social acceptability, crisis management and customer experience. For more information on Leger, please consult our Web site, www.leger360.com.

SOURCE Leger, The Research Intelligence Group