Fantasy sports firms FanDuel and DraftKings agree to combine

18 November 2016

A Scottish tech company which became a significant gamer in the US dream sports market is to combine with its most significant competitor.

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

The deal, which goes through regulative approval, is expected to close in the 2nd half of next year.

FanDuel has offices in and Glasgow however moved its head office to New York a number of years earlier.

DraftKings has its head office in Boston.

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 companies have been facing regulative and legal difficulties to their industry, with regulators in some US states ruling that dream sports firms' activities amounted to prohibited betting.

In a joint declaration on Friday, the business stated that by integrating and simplifying resources they could "accelerate work with government authorities to continue to develop a basic regulative structure".

They also anticipate the "strategic merger of equates to" to bring performances and cost savings and assist the combined company "accelerate its course to success".

FanDuel chief executive Nigel Eccles said: "Being able to combine DraftKings and FanDuel provides a remarkable chance for us to further innovate and interrupt the sports industry.

"While both business have achieved much currently, this promotion code transaction will create a service that can provide a greater variety of offerings, interesting new users, including the 10s of millions of season-long dream players that haven't yet attempted our products."

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