Paddy Power owner Flutter to close betting platform Fox Bet

Betting giant Flutter owns the market leading FanDuel brand and has said that Fox Bet contributed less than 3% to its revenue of $2.6bn (€2.3bn) in the fast growing US market last year.

Mon, 31 Jul, 2023 - 11:52

Padraic Halpin and Radhika Anilkumar

Paddy Power owner Flutter and broadcaster Fox Corporation announced they will close US sports betting platform Fox Bet.

Betting giant Flutter owns the market leading FanDuel brand and has said that Fox Bet contributed less than 3% to its revenue of $2.6bn (€2.3bn) in the fast growing US market last year.

Flutter is aiming to return to profit this year after a $313m loss in the US last year.

The Fox Bet and PokerStars brands were responsible for $91m of that loss and Flutter chief Peter Jackson said in March he expects "between half and two-thirds of that to go away" if Fox Bet was no longer operational.

A profitable year would likely make the Dublin-based firm the first operator to turn a profit in the US following the 2018 lifting of a nationwide ban on sports betting.

A phased closure of Fox Bet's operations will take place between July 31 and August 31, the companies said.

Fox will retain future use of the Fox and Fox Bet brands, including Fox Bet Super 6, and said it intends to launch a new Fox Super 6 game later this summer.

Fox will continue to hold its option to acquire 18.6% of FanDuel in addition to its 2.5% stake in Flutter.

In 2021, Rupert Murdoch's Fox said it filed an arbitration claim over the value of its stake in FanDuel.

The dispute goes back to a deal made when Flutter was acquiring the Stars Group in North America in 2019 to launch Fox Bet.

- Reuter with additional reporting by the Irish Examiner