Are Fan Duel and DraftKings colluding to control the US sports betting market in violation of US anti-trust laws? That’s the allegation poised recently by Senators Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Peter Welch (D-Vt) in a recent letter to the Federal Trade Commission that was also posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Senators Lee and Welch allege that, despite being denied the opportunity to merge, the two companies have conspired to dominte the US sports betting market. In their letter, the lawmakers focused their anger on Fan Duel and DraftKings’ dominance of the fantasy sports market. Between them, Fan Duel and DraftKings control a combined 90 percent of the US fantasy sports market.
The letter, which is addressed to FTC Chair Lina Khan and Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Jonathan Kanter goes on to suggest that the two companies leverage their market power to keep smaller sportsbooks from entering the market. These efforts allegedly include influencing pro sports teams and payment processors to not work with smaller sports betting operators.
The lawmakers also took aim at what they say are covert lobbying efforts by the companies to limit competition. Of particular interest is the Sports Betting Alliance (SBA), a small but influential lobbying group whose only members are FanDuel, DraftKings, BetMGM, and Fanatics Sportsbook. The SBA has been lobbying lawmakers in states like Wyoming to limit the scope of the fantasy sports market.
Summing up their argument the Senators said, “After their merger to monopoly was blocked, it seems that FanDuel and DraftKings have arguably acted as one company, violating our antitrust laws.” Whether the FTC will care about that kind of thing is another argument entirely.