Blask: Fantasy sports demand grows 3% YoY, outpacing iGaming market 4x

Fantasy sports demand grew 3.0% year-on-year versus 0.7% for overall iGaming, according to Blask’s newly published Fantasy Sports 2026 report covering July 2025 to June 2026 across 100 countries and all 50 US states.

Blask said its Blask Index for all iGaming categories rose from 59.1M to 60.8M over the period, while Fantasy increased 3%, lifting the category’s share of total demand to 6.4%.

The company said the uplift was broad-based rather than driven by a handful of markets: 49 of the 100 tracked countries saw both fantasy demand and fantasy share rise at the same time. By comparison, 25 countries saw both measures fall, and 22 saw demand rise while share fell.

Blask also highlighted a seasonal quirk. During major national-team tournaments — the 2022 World Cup, UEFA EURO 2024 and the 2026 World Cup — fantasy demand fell relative to its seasonal baseline, which the company attributed to pauses in club leagues and season-long fantasy formats. Despite those dips, Blask said the category still delivered 3% full-year growth.

By growth rate, Blask said Lithuania (+100%), Romania (+94%) and Hungary (+90%) led the year, while the UK and US remained the largest markets by volume, together accounting for 40% of global fantasy demand. Blask positioned the findings against the upcoming peak period for fantasy activity as the Premier League 2026/27 season begins on August 21 and the NFL season opens September 9.