ESPN SVP reveals fantasy players are company’s youngest, most engaged audience online

In spite of the continued expansion of legalized sports betting in the U.S., ESPN continues to see record engagement with fantasy sports games and content on their platforms.

Kaitee Daley, ESPN’s senior vice president of digital, social and streaming content, joined The Sports Media Podcast this week and revealed that fantasy players remain a key, growing audience for the company.

“Without a doubt, 2024 was a record year in terms of number of people playing fantasy. Of course, football and tournament challenge being our top games, they had their best year ever,” Daley explained. “We’re also experimenting with reaching new audiences. We have an industry-first WNBA fantasy [product]. We have Oscars pick ’em … in partnership with ABC. So those are ways that we are looking to engage in the fantasy space, and fantasy players continue to be our most engaged, youngest on-platform audience.”

Daley added that ESPN’s fantasy football product had 13 million players this NFL season, its most ever.

However, Daley made a key distinction in explaining this trend. When she discusses “on-platform audience,” this means within ESPN properties. That includes the ESPN app, the ESPN fantasy app, and the company’s streaming services. It does not include social media platforms or YouTube.

So, in a way, this claim makes perfect sense. Daley is stating that among users of the company’s products and services, fantasy players are the most engaged audience and cover a key younger demographic.

While Daley promoted the company’s partnership with Penn Entertainment on ESPN Bet, it is unclear whether she included ESPN Bet in her “on-platform” claim.

Still, as ESPN intensifies its focus on elements of its business model beyond cable carriage revenue, the company’s dominance on digital platforms will only matter more. Having a vast and engaged audience for fantasy sports is a massive feather in ESPN’s cap.