The nearly 11-month journey of PointsBet selling its US assets to Fanatics is over as of Wednesday.
The $225 million deal saw Fanatics take over the US operations of PointsBet, in-play technology developer Banach Technology and a license to use a copy of PointsBet’s proprietary tech platform.
PointsBet first announced Fanatics would be taking over with a $150 million offer in May 2023. DraftKings threw its hat into the ring for PointsBet about a month later with a $195 million cash offer for its US assets.
DraftKings never finalized a binding offer, though, and the increased offer from Fanatics was accepted by shareholders days later.
Purchase bolstered Fanatics launch
The offer to PointsBet last May was far from the first thought Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin had about entering sports betting. The sports memorabilia retailer bid for a New York sports betting license in 2021 with Penn Entertainment, though the joint bid with Kambi as platform provider failed to hit the minimum score required.
The first real step, however, came when Rubin sold his stakes in the NBA‘s Philadelphia 76ers and NHL‘s New Jersey Nets in June 2022.
PointsBet and its US portfolio of 12 state licenses helped fill the gap in Rubin’s comments about being live in 12 to 15 states by NFL betting season, as Fanatics only had access to four states before the deal. It wound up operating in 11 states by the NFL season kickoff.
Fanatics operations after close
The Fanatics online sportsbook will be available to 95% of the addressable online sports betting market in the US by the end of April, the company said in a press release.
The brand will have online sports betting in 20 states, pending all remaining regulatory approvals and online casino in four states before New Jersey‘s launch. More than 200 PointsBet employees are joining Fanatics, which is also taking over the leases of former PointsBet offices in Denver and Dublin, Ireland.
“The acquisition of the US businesses of PointsBet has super charged our expansion plans,” said Matt King, CEO of Fanatics Betting and Gaming. “In addition to our migration of PointsBet customers and technology to the Fanatics Sportsbook and Casino platform, we have also added an incredibly talented team of passionate leaders from the ranks of PointsBet USA that have already made an impact on our business.”
What about PointsBet?
Australia-listed PointsBet will now focus on its two remaining segments, Canada and Australia.
PointsBet keeps ownership of the proprietary tech platform and has a “perpetual, royalty-free license to exploit Banach technology assets.”
The company may not be entirely done with the US, either. The sale only keeps PointsBet out of the US market for 18 months.