With BetHog, we’re investing a lot in the product experience. We got good
coverage for our launch, which surprised me because there’s 500 crypto casinos out there, why are we different? One of the things that we are doing to differentiate is really investing in that product experience. We want to have
unique titles that you can’t play anywhere else and that’s rare because most crypto casinos have the same titles as everyone else.
rewarding but fun would not be on my list. It’s hard. What if the California Attorney General comes out and says that this is illegal? You’re always living under like the fear of another hammer dropping.”
Eccles attributes much of his continued success to a hands-on, agile startup mentality. He contrasts his experiences at FanDuel with his current venture, BetHog, emphasising the advantages of working with a dedicated team and a flexible approach:
“At FanDuel it would often be the case where you’d be looking at a feature and asking: can we do this by next football season? Compare this to BetHog where we came up with an idea two weeks ago and launched it today.”
Nigel is no longer operating in the DFS market with BetHog but he still tracks the DFS market closely.
“DFS as FanDuel and DraftKings have imagined it seems to have somewhat stagnated. It’s certainly not had the massive growth that we had. Innovation has moved on to new operators like PrizePicks and Underdog. Tey’ve been very successful and they’re both good products largely through innovation.”
US DUOPOLY
Having played a significant role in paving the way for sports betting to be legalised nationally, G3 asks Nigel whether the FanDuel – DraftKings monopoly (53 per cent, 31 per cent) has taken the sheen off a vibrant market.
“I’m unsurprised. From very early on I said this is going to be a duopoly or at most three major winners… FanDuel and DraftKings just executed the best. I think it’s very good for them and very bad for anyone else in the market.”
Nigel warned emerging operators about the difficulties of competing in a market where scale, capital, and quality are crucial. “You need massive scale to win in this market with a tier one product.
30
A lot of operators came in and had the budget, but they didn’t have a tier one product. You needed a combination of strong band, a tier one product, deep, deep, pockets and a willingness to spend it. As early as 2020, any operator that asked me I told to just get out of sports betting or at the least dial it back. You’re not going to win in this market, focus on other markets.
“Tat’s what I did. When I left FanDuel, I didn’t think there was an opportunity to start up a new competitor, it was too late. I think there’s a tendency for a lot of people to only do something when it’s established that it’s going to be a big market. Why did ESPN wait until November 2023? It’s insane. I think a lot of it was just arrogance that we’re ESPN but that doesn’t carry the way you think it does.”
Prior to our interview, Flutter stated in an earnings release that the size of the US sports and online casino market will reach $63bn by 2030. Reflecting on the early estimates of the US sports betting market, Eccles remarked that the growth trajectory has largely aligned with his expectations. Te industry, he noted, has evolved based on early estimates drawn from international markets, with the US market projected to expand dramatically over the coming years.
“We did an estimate very early on of at least $20bn. All we did was look at betting prevalence in other countries such as the UK and Australia and applied that to the US population. I also up weighted the US because it’s got a higher GDP per capita, it’s got a higher penetration of sports, and it’s got more sports. So, no, it doesn’t surprise me at all. We had very high estimates then and it’s just continued. Te figures you’ve stated are in line with what I thought it would hit by 2030.”
BETHOG & CRYPTO’S EMERGENCE
Launched in November 2024 alongside co-founder Rob Jones, BetHog is a crypto-exclusive sportsbook and casino platform that seeks to revolutionise the iGaming experience by integrating cryptocurrency and innovative game formats. Under Eccles’s leadership, BetHog has secured $6m in funding, led by Web3 venture capital firm 6th Man Ventures, with participation from industry
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