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PointsBet Transition to Fanatics A Work in Progress

Dave Bonderoff

Last Updated: September 2, 2023 12:03 PM EDT • 2 min 29 sec read.

Fanatics Sportsbook is quickly making good on its promise to become a recognizable and dominant name among the best sportsbooks and in the broad U.S. legal sports betting landscape. Its $225 million investment in PointsBet USA will hopefully be paying dividends sooner, rather than later.

On Thursday, it was announced that Fanatics Betting and Gaming closed on eight important states, where the Fanatics Sportsbook brand hopes to take on FanDuel, DraftKings and other major sportsbooks for a respectable market share.

The announcement Thursday paves the way for at least one iteration of the Fanatics Sportsbook to be active in 11 U.S. states, in time to take advantage of the industry's bread-and-butter NFL season.

It's complicated

As of Thursday, the takeover of PointsBet USA by Fanatics Betting and Gaming is closed. The next step is transitioning PointsBet to Fanatics. 

Sound simple? It's not. With Thursday's announcement came the realization that a cut-and-dry transition won't necessarily take place. Instead, it will be a gradual transition that will, at first include three different legal sports betting products and names under one huge umbrella, depending on the state at play.

Some states have already rolled out the Fanatics Sportsbook brand. Others will continue on with the PointsBet Sportsbook brand for the time being, and others will be branded “PointsBet, a Fanatics Experience“ until a full transition takes place.

Attempt to clarify

PointsBet will maintain their name in three states that they have an online casino. New Jersey, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania will keep the PointsBet Casino name for now. 

Six states that currently host a PointsBet Sportsbook will also maintain that branding for now. Included on that list are Indiana, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, New York, and Ohio. A switch to Fanatics Sportsbook will come when Fanatics Betting and Gaming closes on those states individually. 

Expect New York to be among the first of the aforementioned states to make that switch. Their regulatory board meets early this month.

The announcement Thursday also stated that eight previous PointsBet states will rebrand under the Fanatics Sportsbook name imminently - Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia. Those states will have “PointsBet, a Fanatics Experience” up and running prior to regulatory reviews in those states and a full Fanatics Sportsbook rebrand.

Fanatics currently has their own branded sportsbook products in Massachusetts, Ohio, Maryland, and Tennessee. Maryland will have both Fanatics and PointsBet wagering brands for the foreseeable future.

Why the confusion?

Different states have different rules and regulations surrounding their legal sports betting providers. New York for instance, will require Fanatics to become outright, sole owner of a sports betting license to operate in the state. A simple transfer of a license is not in the cards there. Vetting by the New York State Gaming Commission will have to come first, just like with any other prospective sportsbook.

In New Jersey, Fanatics is currently being considered for a license but hasn't completed the process just yet. According to a rep with the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement, “PointsBet is currently operating under a transactional waiver, and because of that, there is no license that needs to be transferred. Once Fanatics completes its acquisition of PointsBet, it will need to obtain a new transactional waiver from the Division of Gaming Enforcement to continue operations.”

The $225-million takeover of PointsBet USA and the ultimate rebrand process by Fanatics is not quite as easy as it looks on its face. Fanatics still owns market access in the 14 states that PointsBet had a presence, but a full transition to the Fanatics name is still in the works.

Still, 11 states will have some form of Fanatics Sportsbook before the NFL season kicks off on Thursday. Just not all will fall under the Fanatics Sportsbook name.

That said, Fanatics Sportsbook is officially on the move in the competitive U.S. legal sports betting market and looks poised to realize their optimistic expansion plans.

Written By:
Dave Bonderoff
Dave Bonderoff and betting go hand-in-hand. Both are characterized by "odds". Dave fancies himself as one of the most dedicated sports and pop-culture junkies around, to the chagrin of his family and friends. Following sports for 50 years and writing about it for 20, Dave hasn't found a sport yet that can't contribute to 2-3 straight hours of couch time. That search remains ongoing. As a good old Canadian boy, hockey is in Dave’s heart, as is curling sadly. But evolution is a real thing and that’s why football, baseball, and just about every sport on the planet has become a passion. Dave isn’t afraid to kill some time obsessing over politics or the far-too-frequent awards shows the consume the airwaves.