Fantasy Sports Firms FanDuel and DraftKings Accept Merge

Fantasy sports companies FanDuel and DraftKings agree to merge

18 November 2016

A Scottish tech firm which became a major player in the US dream sports market is to merge with its greatest rival.

FanDuel, which was established in Edinburgh in 2009, has gone into a merger contract with DraftKings.

The transaction, which goes through regulative approval, is expected to close in the second half of next year.

FanDuel has offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow however moved its headquarters to New York a number of years back.

DraftKings has its head office in Boston.

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The business provide online fantasy contests across professional sports in the US, Canada and the UK.

Cost savings

There are an estimated 57 million dream players in the US alone.

Both business have been dealing with regulative and legal challenges to their industry, with regulators in some US states ruling that dream sports companies' activities totaled up to illegal gambling.

In a joint declaration on Friday, the business stated that by combining and streamlining resources they could "accelerate work with federal government authorities to continue to develop a basic regulatory framework".

They also anticipate the "tactical merger of equates to" to bring performances and expense savings and assist the combined business "accelerate its path to success".

FanDuel president Nigel Eccles said: "Being able to integrate DraftKings and FanDuel presents an incredible chance for us to even more innovate and disrupt the sports industry.

"While both business have accomplished much currently, this promotion code transaction will produce a business that can use a greater range of offerings, appealing to new users, consisting of the 10s of millions of season-long fantasy players that have not yet attempted our products."