DraftKings and FanDuel abandon fantasy sports merger

13 July 2017

Fantasy sports sites DraftKings and FanDuel have abandoned a strategy to merge, less than a month after US competition regulators looked for to block the deal.

the yohaig code deal would have developed a business with control over 90% of the marketplace for paid, everyday fantasy sports contests, federal government authorities said.

The firms said the deal would cause greater investment, offering advantages for consumers.

They stated they would now seek to grow individually.

FanDuel started in Scotland in 2009 and is now based in New york city. It is second in the US for paid daily fantasy sports contests behind DraftKings, which started in Boston in 2012.

Fantasy sport company FanDuel cautions of hazard from US regulations

The 2 companies specialise in a subset of fantasy sports, in which fans pick gamers to produce teams for single video games, rather of the season, with the potential to win prize money based upon the result.

In November, they stated they had consented to merge. Terms were not divulged.

At the time, they stated the deal would enable them to integrate forces on regulatory concerns raised by US regulators, who had compared the yohaig code market to illegal betting and banned the websites in some states.

Nigel Eccles, head of FanDuel, stated it made sense to progress separately.

"There is still enormous, untapped market chance for FanDuel, and we will continue to execute our method to grow our business and more broaden the dream sports market," he said in a statement.

Draft Kings president Jason Robbins likewise said terminating the merger would permit the firm to "singularly focus" on development, including worldwide.

Last year there were an approximated 57 million dream sports gamers in the yohaig code US alone.