Fanduel Withdrawal From U.K. Market in the News — Weekly Round-up for August 04, 2017

By Brian Cullingworth, Last updated Aug 4, 2017

Is Fanduel’s U.K. Exit Permanent?

Players in the dark on future daily fantasy sport activities in the UK after FanDuel reveals it will not be offering its services this football season

Almost a full year after launching in the UK last August, daily fantasy sports market leader FanDuel appears to be withdrawing from the market… it is not clear whether on a temporary or permanent basis.

Players report that they have been emailed by the company and told that it will not be offering its services for the forthcoming football season, and that they are to be given a full refund of deposits.

Players are mystified by the sudden withdrawal just before the 2017 season kicks off – a potentially major source of DFS business for FanDuel.

FanDuel entered the UK market last year in partnership with sports content provider Opta, billing the move as the first step in an international expansion strategy, and announcing that it was particularly interested in English Premier League action (see previous InfoPowa reports).

DFS fans can take some comfort from a comment by the company that it “hopes to be back in the future”, but there has been no official explanation from FanDuel on why it is withdrawing services and the nature of its future plans in the UK.

Fanduel Explains ‘Temporary’ Withdrawal From U.K. Market (Update)

DFS market leader says it needs to concentrate on the US market

Amid speculation that the highly competitive UK betting market has presented market penetration difficulties for it, daily fantasy sports operator FanDuel has explained why it made the decision to withdraw from the UK market this week, albeit temporarily (see previous InfoPowa report).

A company statement Friday explains that with a new NFL season imminent, it has decided to concentrate its efforts and resources on ramping up its business in the US market.

The company has implied to players that it could be back, but to depart a significant market (and presumably drop a sizeable investment) on the threshold of the key English Premier League football season suggests that things may not have gone as well as expected in the UK for FanDuel.

---