Cost to Build a Sports Betting App Like FanDuel – The Global Tofay

Are you an NFL fan who wants to enjoy and earn money from the game? A fantasy sports app like FanDuel can help! Similarly, many other apps, like DraftKings, allow users to bet on their favorite player’s performance and earn money.

In fact, FanDuel and DraftKings have been at the forefront of the fantasy sports betting app market in the US, so much so that states like Illinois are looking to change their taxation structure to benefit from this $16 billion industry. Such a massive market is bound to attract more entrepreneurs and startups.

However, building a FanDuel fantasy app requires an advanced tech stack, skilled professionals, and innovative integrations, which can lead to higher development costs. Understanding all the factors that affect the cost of developing a fantasy sports mobile app can help optimize expenses and improve profits.

This article will help you understand the factors that impact the cost of fantasy sports app like FanDuel, including revenue models and the tech stack needed. But first, you need to understand the FanDuel fantasy app and how it’s working.

What is a FanDuel App?

FanDuel is one of the leading online sports betting applications. This fantasy sports betting app is live in more than 20 states across the United States. It had the first-mover advantage because FanDuel began as a daily fantasy sports company.

Later, FanDuel introduced sports betting features when several states across the US legalized it. The app provides a welcome bonus for gamers with the “bet & get” promo code. It allows gamers to receive bonuses of between $5 and $200.

With the legalization of sports betting across several countries, including the UK, Australia, and many European nations, fantasy sports apps have gained traction. What has made fantasy sports betting apps so famous is the ease of,

• Betting on sports from anywhere and anytime.
• Get involved in the gameplay without being physically present.
• Create a community of sports fans and engage easily.
• Bet on sports with limited money.
• Enjoy the profits from each game.

Such ease of sports betting and increased interest in online betting have led to the market growing at a CAGR of 14.1%. The fantasy sports betting app market is set to reach $92.52 in revenue by 2032. Here are some more numbers on the rising popularity of fantasy sports betting apps.

Fantasy Sports Betting App Market Statistics

• FanDuel and DraftKings account for 90% of the US market share for fantasy sports betting apps.
• The worldwide fantasy sports betting market is set to reach $89.92 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 13.2%.
• 23% of Americans aged over 18 engage in sports betting, and 19% love to participate in fantasy sports.
• Fantasy sports betting apps have grown 21% yearly, leading to a 43% increase in mobile application usage.

These numbers may tempt you to develop an app for your business based on the market size. And yes, you should, as it can be a profitable business venture. However, you must also consider the cost of developing mobile apps like FanDuel for fantasy sports.

How Much Does It Cost To Build A Fantasy Sports App Like FanDuel?

Fantasy sports betting app development can cost between $25,000 and $150,000. The variation in the cost is due to different factors that affect the price of developing a fantasy sports app. These factors include the cost of designing the app, the tech stack needed, and even testing expenses.

Understanding these factors helps startups and online betting businesses plan their development costs better. Budgeting is crucial, especially when mobile app development costs can significantly contribute to the total expense of developing a fantasy sports app.

Factors That Affect Cost To Develop Fantasy Sports Apps like FanDuel

1. Design Costs

The cost to develop a fantasy sports mobile app can vary based on the design needs. For example, if you are creating an application like Fanduel’s fantasy app, consideration of animation complexity, responsive design, and functionality is crucial.

A fantasy sports app like FanDuel needs user-friendly design with responsive elements. This includes user research, details on platforms where the app will be deployed, and complex UX requirements. For example, consider designing a dashboard UI for your fantasy sports app. You must consider the visual representation of sports data with which users will interact in real time.

The best practice is to create a design wireframe based on a planned user journey map. This ensures that your fantasy sports betting app covers all the touchpoints along the map where users interact. The design costs for a fantasy sports betting app can range from $5,000 to $25,000.

2. Tech Stack

Every fantasy sports app like FanDuel needs an advanced technology stack. What’s a technology stack? It’s a suite of tools and frameworks at the core of FanDuel sports betting app development. Tech stack costs can be significant, considering the scale, scope, and features needed for a fantasy sports app.

For example, fantasy sports apps like FanDuel allow users to place game bets. This means the app needs to show live data of the matches. Real-time data analysis, processing, and integration into a fantasy sports app need a reliable backend. Plus, you also need a front-end tech stack to support sports betting app UI design and deliver a responsive experience.

As your fantasy sports app grows, your user base will increase, and a scalable backend will be able to cope with the rise in demand. This is why the tech stack becomes crucial; its cost is a significant part of your development budget. The cost of the tech stack for developing a FanDuel fantasy app can be within the range of $15,000 to $55,000.

3. Platform-based

The platform you deploy the fantasy sports app on can impact the development cost. For example, if you are to create an app like FanDuel, deploying the app on both Android and iOS is obvious. Considering two separate applications for each platform, the development cost is significant. Plus, you also need to build both apps with scalable backends.

The Android platform has a massive user base using several different devices. Your app needs to work uniformly across Android devices. However, you can opt for a cross-platform app that works well on both platforms.

4. Testing and maintenance

Testing is one of the most essential parts of your sports betting app development process. The reason is simple: Testing is necessary for your users to be exposed to a half-baked product. A need for a better user experience can impact your business growth.

With proper testing, some features may be responsive, leading to issues with the user flow. Plus, testing the application allows you to ensure a secure experience for your users. A fantasy sports app must comply with specific regulations, and testing helps ensure compliance.

Security testing is not everything if you don’t have a maintenance team tracking and tuning the fantasy sports betting app. Applying an observability approach and security testing can help you have a robust response in case of any incident.

Observability offers an overview of a system’s internal state and external outputs. It provides actionable insights into complex and multilayered systems to understand the root cause of significant issues.

Why is observability so critical?

A significant chunk of the maintenance costs goes into resolving issues and incidents with the application. So, if your fantasy sports app suffers from any considerable crash, the observability framework will help determine the problem quickly. This, in turn, reduces the cost of maintenance.

5. Compliance and licensing

Compliance with different state regulations is essential if you create a fantasy sports website and app for the United States audience, like FanDuel. For example, Arizona has specific rules and licensing laws for fantasy sports betting apps.

Some of the critical provisions for compliance are,

• Safeguard of the assets and accountability need to be defined properly.
• Every liability needs proper disclosure.
• Financial records should be accurate and reliable.
• Transactions on the platform need to occur only after user authorization.
• Access to assets needs proper authorization.
• Roles and responsibilities across the system need adequate definition.

Further, you need to consider licensing costs. For example, the initial license fees are around $2000 if you are a fantasy contest operator. At the same time, the renewal fee will be $1000. Similarly, the cost of licensing a fantasy sports betting app for a holding company is $500.

Apart from all the costs we discussed, there are also expenses associated with integrating third-party services and APIs. This is why planning the entire sports app development and leveraging an agile approach matters.

Using an agile method, you can achieve continuous improvement for a FanDuel fantasy sports betting app-like product. It has an iterative process where you can leverage incremental updates to ensure a robust fantasy sports app. Another major contributor to the cost of developing fantasy sports mobile apps is the feature complexity.

More complex features contribute to higher costs. Complexity depends on the feature type and how it will work. So, here are key features you need to create if you want to develop a product like the FanDuel sports betting app.

Features to Incorporate Into A Fantasy Sports App

Making a fantasy sports betting app successful takes extensive effort, including investment into developing each feature. These features can be categorized as,

Admin Panel Features

In the admin panel, you add features to better control user activities and app functionalities.

• User Management- Admins can oversee user activities and regulate how bets are placed. This helps manage users’ betting and reduce malicious activities.
• Pricing Management- This feature helps admins manage the pricing of assets and fees that users need to pay to access the platform.
• Betting Money Management- Admins can manage all the payments users make for betting and distribute pricing among bet winners.
• Gaming Management- Admins can change specific events on the app and control the gameplay.
• Smart Dashboard- Adding this feature to your fantasy sports betting app can help admins gain insights into user activities, contests, and revenue.
• Contest Management- Admins can manage daily, weekly, and seasonal contests. It allows admins to choose the content rules and pricing structure and schedule contests accordingly.
• Scoring Management- This feature allows admins to customize the points each user scores based on a player’s performance in a real-life game.
• Content Management- Admins can manage the content regularly using this feature for better user engagement.
• Compliance and Security- The admin panel can ensure data security and compliance with local laws. It allows admins to access user policy settings, conduct security audits, and set other data access limits.

User Panel Features

FanDuel fantasy apps offer engaging features for users. You can replicate the same through features like,

• User Registration- This feature allows users to register on the app by entering basic information like name, email address, and password.
• Game Dashboard- This feature helps users view all the fantasy teams, ongoing contests, and new events. It also provides relevant news and updates on the game.
• Fantasy Team Management: This feature allows users to manage and create fantasy teams with the fantasy sports app. Users can choose a player for their fantasy team, make substitutions, and track performance. It also offers data on player injury, statistics, and relevant data.
• Contest Selection- This feature allows users to browse different contest options and leagues and access contest data such as entry costs, prizes, game style, and length. It also allows users to review contest details, like scoring, entry rules, and payout schedules.
• Live Content Updates- This fantasy sports betting app feature allows users to monitor player performance. Game updates are provided in real-time to help users make better betting decisions.
• In-app Wallets- This is an essential feature for users that helps them manage virtual and real money wallets. Users can add funds, withdraw the winning amount, and view payment history.

Developing these features for a fantasy sports betting app requires an advanced tech stack, which includes frameworks, tools, and third-party services.

Tech Stack To Use For Sports Betting App Like FanDuel

For Android

1. Frontend

• Programming Languages: Kotlin or Java
• Frameworks: Android SDK, Jetpack Compose

2. Backend

• Programming Languages: Java, NodeJS, or Ruby
• Frameworks: Spring Boot, ExpressJS

3. Database: PostgreSQL, MongoDB, or Firebase Realtime Database

4. API Integration: RESTful APIs, GraphQL for data fetching, WebSockets for real-time updates

For iOS

1. Frontend

2. Backend

• Programming Languages: NodJS, Ruby, or Python
• Frameworks: Ruby on Rails, ExpressJS

3. Database: PostgreSQL, MongoDB, or Firebase

4. API Integration: RESTful APIs, GraphQL, WebSockets

How Do Sports Betting Apps Like FanDuel Make Money?

Fantasy sports apps like FanDuel leverage multiple revenue models to earn money. FanDuel fantasy app alone made more than $3.23 million in 2022. So you can understand the money-making opportunity it presents for startups looking to build fantasy sports betting apps.

Here are some of the monetization models that you can use for your fantasy sports app,

1. Fees for participation

Fantasy sports betting apps generate revenue through vigs(betting commission)and transaction fees. Sportsbook apps primarily use Vigorish or Vigs to charge a commission for each bet. Many platforms also charge transaction fees or charges for deposits or withdrawals from the app.

2. Advertisement

One significant method by which fantasy sports apps earn money is advertisement. The first approach is to partner with sports teams, major leagues like the NBA, or brands that want to promote their business on a massive scale. Another approach is to add ads to the application for other products and services, generating revenue.

3. User engagement models

A typical user engagement model that fantasy sports betting apps use to earn money is loyalty programs. These programs do not impact revenue directly but improve user retention and conversions. Due to loyalty points and rewards in the betting app, many users repeatedly engage, generating more revenue.

You can build a custom rewards system app for your fantasy sports business, retaining users and improving engagement to increase revenue. Another approach is integrating additional features, premium content, and exclusive betting options to allow users to make in-app purchases.

Excellent Webworld’s Fantasy Sports App Development Solution

Fantasy sports apps like FanDuel are growing rapidly, with advanced data visualization and scalable systems offering real-time engagement. Capitalizing on this market surge and fantasy sports app popularity requires consideration of the tech stack and costs. Entrepreneurs looking to build apps like FanDuel must consider the costs of design, tech stack, testing, security, and compliance.

It can be challenging to manage all the costing factors and ensure optimal costs for fantasy sports app development. This is where a sports app development company like Excellent Webworld can help. It provides you with,

• User-friendly fantasy sports betting app UI/UX design
• Real-time data integrations for live matches
• Scalable backend systems that handle peak loads
• Continuous tech support for your app

So, if you want to leverage massive market opportunity and build a fantasy sports app, contact us now.

Article By

Paresh Sagar is the CEO of Excellent Webworld. He firmly believes in using technology to solve challenges. His dedication and attention to detail make him an expert in helping startups in different industries digitalize their businesses globally.