FanDuel is shutting down its UK-facing operation as it prepares to fight for its life in the chaotic US daily fantasy sports market. The move is a good indication of how desperate the situation is at the company, now that its dreams of merging with rival DraftKings have been put on ice by US regulators.
The surprise announcement was made this weekend when FanDuel’s UK players received notice that their accounts were being terminated. FanDuel is offering a full refund to all impacted players.
In an interview with Legal Sports Report, a company spokesperson laid out the reasons for the FanDuel’s UK pullout saying:
We will not be operating our UK product this upcoming EPL season to focus on our product in the US. As we approach the NFL season, we are allocating all of our resources towards ramping up a US product that consumers love and building out complementary fantasy sports products. There are over 53 million people playing fantasy sports in the United States and we are investing all of our resources on that market.
FanDuel is right to be focusing its efforts on the US because it is facing a life or death struggle in that market. Besides battling every state governing body in an effort to not be tagged as a gambling operator, the company must also return to its battle for dominance with its rival, DraftKings. Now that the two companies have ended their bid to merge forces, it’s back to fighting for every customer in the United States…and that won’t be cheap.
Unfortunately for FanDuel, and DraftKings, neither company is particularly flush with the kind of cash it’s going to take to fight that fight anyways. That should make life very interesting for executives at both companies.
FanDuel is, however, leaving the door open for a possible re-entry into the UK market sometime in the future.