Fanatics has agreed to acquire Pointbet’s U.S. operations, marking the sports giant’s first major foray into U.S. sports betting.
The deal is worth approximately $150 million in cash. The two companies announced the deal on Sunday night, shortly after CNBC reported that the deal had been reached.
“Fanatics and PointsBet are thrilled to be entering into an agreement for Fanatics Betting and Gaming to acquire PointsBet’s US operations.” the company said in a joint statement. “While there are still several stages in the process of closing the acquisition, both parties are confident of the outcome. We will provide further updates in the coming weeks.”
The deal will give fanatics access to at least 15 states, according to people familiar with the deal, who requested anonymity because the negotiations were private. Fanatics expects to have access to most states where PointBet operates by the start of the NFL season, one of the people said.
Pointbet, whose shares are traded in Australia, plans to hold a shareholder vote on the transaction in late June. Only PointsBet’s US assets are part of the deal.Fanatics plans to fund some of the remaining cash flow from point betting, which has had to spend heavily on marketing to compete with its larger rivals. draft kings And fanduel.
PointsBet expects a loss of $77 million to $82 million in the second half of the year. The company said on Sunday that it would need to raise additional capital at a “significant discount to recent market prices” in the short term should its deal with Fanatics fail in any way, citing “extremely difficult” market conditions. said there is.
PointsBet said NBCUniversal will earn revenue from a previous deal with PointsBet and will no longer have a stake in the company. NBC acquired a 4.9% stake in PointsBet in 2020.
Fanatics has been in talks with various sports betting companies over the past year as it plans its future direction in mobile gambling.
“This is a 10-year journey,” Fanatics Betting CEO Matt King said at the SBC conference earlier this month. “We’re going to be very methodical on that 10-year journey, and doing that and taking that approach will allow us to be a little more thoughtful in our decision-making. , you can go a little slower.” to move faster later. ”
Fanatics is a sports platform company with a private valuation of $31 billion. The company expects sales of $8 billion in 2023.
Fanatics owns commerce assets, a sports trading card business and is building a sports betting division. The company acquired the legendary trading card company Topps. $500 million last year.
Disclosure: NBCUniversal is the parent company of NBC Sports and CNBC.
