The sports book wars are starting.
As the legal gambling industry moves from the crazy-money expansion phase to the careful-cash consolidation phase, one major sports book is using pretty crazy, potentially to keep an aspiring sports book from becoming a major sports book by buying up a struggling sports book.
Last month, Fanatics reached a deal to buy the U.S. operations of PointsBet for $150 million. Now, via multiple reports, DraftKings has swooped in with a $195 million offer.
Via CNBC.com, Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin said he is “highly skeptical of the deal,” and that he “views [it] as DraftKings attempting to slow Fanatics down.”
“It’s a move to delay our ability to enter the market,” Rubin added. “I guess they are more concerned about us than I would have thought.”
The deal needs to be approved by the PointsBet board. There also could be regulatory issues, given DraftKings’ dominance of the American market, along with FanDuel.
Regardless of the motivation for blocking the effort by Fanatics to buy PointsBet, DraftKings and FanDuel are the Pepsi and Coke, and Fanatics is the RC Cola with major aspirations.
And, as we’ve learned in recent weeks, NFL players are allowed to drink up only while not at work.
