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Fox Corporation May Again Pursue Stake in FanDuel

Andrew Reid

Last Updated: September 17, 2024 4:02 PM EDT • 1 min 45 sec read.

People watch jumbo screens of sports at the FanDuel Sportsbook as we look at the details of Fox Corporation potentially exercising its option to purchase an ownership stake in FanDuel.
People watch jumbo screens of sports at the FanDuel Sportsbook at the Footprint Center in Phoenix. Photo by: David Wallace/The Republic via Imagn Content Services, LLC.

FanDuel, one of our best sports betting sites, may soon undergo some ownership structure changes. According to comments from Fox Corporation CEO Lachlan Murdoch, the media giant may soon stake claim to part ownership in the sports betting behemoth. 

Fox Corporation already owns a 2.5% stake in FanDuel's parent company, Flutter Entertainment. That purchase came with the option to purchase an 18.6% stake in FanDuel, which the company had previously tried to exercise. 

The option

Fox Corporation's option to purchase its stake in FanDuel is alive and well until 2030. With the growing user base for our best sports betting apps and more states joining the legal sports betting scene, the company will reportedly take another shot at completing the deal. 

In the first attempt to reach a deal, Fox and Flutter were unable to agree on a price, and the groups headed to arbitration. In 2023, the Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services tribunal ruled that the 18.6% stake would have been worth $3.7 billion and would increase 5% annually. That means the price would be about $4.3 billion in 2024.

Murdoch reported that Goldman Sachs recently valued the sports betting and gaming company at $35 billion. This means that the 18.6% stake would have a value of nearly $6.5 billion on the open market—more than $2 billion more than it would cost to buy. And that price difference wasn't lost on Murdoch. 

"We're not going to leave $2 billion on the table," Murdoch told the crowd at the Goldman Sachs conference. 

While nothing has been filed and the option has not yet been formally exercised, its expected based on Murdoch's comments that the move may be imminent.

FanDuel and Flutter Entertainment

As of Sept. 2024, FanDuel is legal in 20 states, the DC sports betting scene, and the Ontario sports betting market. As it competes with DraftKings to be the top sportsbook in most states, it continues to lure new customers with FanDuel promo codes.

FanDuel and Flutter both made headlines this summer for a variety of reasons. 

With September serving as Responsible Gaming Education Month, the sportsbook was one of many operators that made moves. FanDuel teamed up with former NBA player Randy Livingston and his wife, sports agent Anita Ondine Smith, to launch Trusted Voices. It's a tool aimed at parents, guardians, and coaches to help them educate young people about gambling.

It also encouraged bettors to use its platform as the bread-and-butter NFL season got underway, offering users a free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket if they placed a $5 bet.

Flutter Entertainment was named one of TIME Magazine's 100 Most Influential Companies of 2024 earlier in the summer, shortly after it moved its primary listing to the New York Stock Exchange from the London Stock Exchange.

Written By:
Andrew Reid
Andrew is a Publishing Editor at Sportsbook Review. He graduated from Acadia University with a degree in Kinesiology, working as a personal trainer and in injury rehab, and then attended the College of Sports Media in Toronto to attain a diploma in Radio and Television Sports Broadcasting. Andrew has been involved in the sports betting and fantasy sports space since joining the FNTSY Sports Network in 2014, where he worked as a producer, director, and occasional on-air talent on various shows focusing on sports betting and DFS content. Prior to joining SBR, he spent multiple years with the USA Today Network as an editor and writer. Living in Newfoundland, Andrew frequents grey market sportsbooks, but in the past, when he's lived in regulated areas, he's become well-versed with all of our best sportsbooks. As strictly a casual bettor, he enjoys making touchdown parlays with friends (bro-lays), sweating out golf cut parlays during majors, playing same-game parlays for fun, and chasing long-shot bets. He also enjoys using sportsbooks that have solid iGaming and casino platforms. As the old guy on staff, he has an affinity for industry news, which confuses some, but shh ... quiet ... the news is on.