Fanatics could spend between $800 million and $1 billion on betting and gaming marketing in 2027 as CEO Michael Rubin seeks to narrow the company’s gap with FanDuel and DraftKings and compete with prediction market operators Kalshi and Polymarket.
The planned outlay would rise sharply from $350 million this year. Fanatics expects about $2 billion in free cash flow in 2026 and has roughly $1 billion in net cash with no debt. A $1 billion marketing budget would equal half of this year’s projected free cash flow.
“We’re going to spend a lot more money on 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,” Rubin told Bloomberg.
Fanatics expects overall 2026 revenue of about $14 billion following a 40% increase over the past year, with around $2 billion coming from sports betting. Rubin said the company has captured 10% of the betting market since entering the sector in 2023.
Fanatics Sportsbook operates in 23 states, while Fanatics Casino is available in four. Legal sports betting is available in 39 states and Washington, D.C., while seven states have legalized online casinos, with Maine waiting to become the eighth.
Rubin said growth in established regulated markets has slowed. “Revenue on a per-state basis has hit a wall in fully regulated states like Pennsylvania, New Jersey or New York,” he told Bloomberg, “the second thing is new states are regulating at a slower pace than you would have thought and the third thing is that prediction markets come out of nowhere.”
Fanatics Markets, launched in December 2025, gives the company access to markets including California, Florida, Georgia and Texas. Sports event contracts are regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission instead of state gambling regulators. California, Georgia and Texas have not legalized sports betting, while Florida’s market belongs to Hard Rock Bet.
“If we would have sat here a year ago and said what’s the chance of sports betting in California, Texas, Florida and Georgia, you’d say no chance,” Rubin said. “And here we are a year later, and we have it.”
Georgia lawmakers considered H.R. 450 this year, but the measure failed 63-98 in the House in March, short of the 120 votes required. Rubin, who owns 31% of Fanatics and holds a supermajority, said the company’s private ownership gives it greater flexibility. Fanatics has also raised $4 billion from Clearlake Capital, SoftBank and Silver Lake.
“The betting and gaming business will be more complicated in 2027 because you not only have the addition of Kalshi and Polymarket, but now you have the addition of Fanatics spending at the same level as FanDuel and DraftKings,” Rubin added.