{"id":41482,"date":"2016-10-31T13:00:47","date_gmt":"2016-10-31T20:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=41482"},"modified":"2016-10-31T13:36:43","modified_gmt":"2016-10-31T20:36:43","slug":"draftkings-fanduel-merger-described-imminent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-fanduel-merger-described-imminent\/","title":{"rendered":"DraftKings and FanDuel Merger Described as \u201cImminent\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"DraftKings
DraftKings and FanDuel could be about to finalize a merger as both firms are said to be struggling to meet their financial obligations. (Image: fortune.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/i>A merger between DraftKings and FanDuel, long-rumored, is now described as \u201cimminent,\u201d according to multiple sources who spoke to ESPN on Friday, who added that an official announcement of the deal could happen within days.<\/p>\n

Shareholders in the two market-leading DFS companies are understood to have been pushing for a merger for some time, but the companies themselves have always played down the suggestions.<\/p>\n

ESPN\u2019s sources said that negotiations had been ongoing since January, but outstanding legal claims against the companies\u2019 in New York remained an obstacle to the proposal.<\/p>\n

That obstacle has now been removed, as the two firms agreed last week to settle with the New York AG\u2019s<\/a> office for $6 million apiece over charges of false advertising and consumer fraud.\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Reluctant Merger?<\/b><\/h2>\n

Among terms that need to be finalized, according to sources, is the structure of a new management, as well as a new name (Dueling Kings? Drafty Fan?), and the location of the company\u2019s headquarters.<\/p>\n

\n

“As we have stated previously, a potential combination would be interesting to consider,” a DraftKings spokesperson told ESPN. “However, as a matter of policy, we don’t comment on rumors or speculation, and there can be no assurances at this time that any discussion about a combination would result in an agreement or merger.”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

FanDuel, which has always been the more reluctant of the two towards consolidation, declined to comment. In an interview with Bloomberg in 2015 FanDuel CEO Nigel Eccles dismissed the idea of a merger out of hand.<\/p>\n

Eccles claimed that FanDuel<\/a> did better business than its competitor, citing DraftKings\u2019 deal with Fox Sports, in which Fox agreed to invest $150 million in the company in return for a commitment to spending $250 million in advertising on the network. \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf we merge, we take on those deals that we\u00a0turned down,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cThat doesn\u2019t improve our economics, it makes it worse. I can see why it would be\u00a0attractive\u00a0to them.\u00a0I don\u2019t know why they think it would be attractive to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both Firms Cash-Strapped<\/b><\/h2>\n

But those words were spoken when the industry was at its height, before it became enveloped in a cloud of legal action and regulatory uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Since then, both sites have been forced to spend millions on legal fees and lobbying costs in order to fight political opposition across America.<\/p>\n

As a result both companies are understood to be strapped for cash and are behind on payments to suppliers, lawyers and lobbyists. FanDuel was recently laid off 60 workers.<\/p>\n

A combined company would save on fees and operational costs and would dominate 90 to 95 percent of the DFS market, although it is possible that the deal could be vetoed by the competition regulator due to the level of its dominance.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A merger between DraftKings and FanDuel, long-rumored, is now described as \u201cimminent,\u201d according to multiple sources who spoke to ESPN on Friday, who added that an official announcement of the deal could happen within days. Shareholders in the two market-leading DFS companies are understood to have been pushing for a merger for some time, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":41483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[62,60,16],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDraftKings and FanDuel Merger Described as \u201cImminent\u201d<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Daily fantasy sports market leaders Draftkings and Fanduel could announce a long awaited merger between the two major players within a few days.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"DraftKings and FanDuel Merger Described as \u201cImminent\u201d\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Daily fantasy sports market leaders Draftkings and Fanduel could announce a long awaited merger between the two major players within a few days.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-fanduel-merger-described-imminent\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-10-31T20:00:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-10-31T20:36:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/gettyimages-491556592.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"840\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"485\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Casino.org Staff Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-fanduel-merger-described-imminent\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-fanduel-merger-described-imminent\/\",\"name\":\"DraftKings and FanDuel Merger Described as \u201cImminent\u201d\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-fanduel-merger-described-imminent\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-fanduel-merger-described-imminent\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/gettyimages-491556592.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-10-31T20:00:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-10-31T20:36:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8c48bf89dc86da77b4d856c7b3b78d77\"},\"description\":\"Daily fantasy sports market leaders Draftkings and Fanduel could announce a long awaited merger between the two major players within a few days.\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-fanduel-merger-described-imminent\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-fanduel-merger-described-imminent\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-fanduel-merger-described-imminent\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/gettyimages-491556592.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/gettyimages-491556592.jpg\",\"width\":840,\"height\":485,\"caption\":\"DraftKings and FanDuel could be about to finalize a merger as both firms are said to be struggling to meet their financial obligations. 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