Fox Bet reportedly to wind down in August

Fox and FlutterEntertainment are reportedly planning to wind down Fox Bet, the sports betting business unit they have set up, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. The media was citing people close to the matter, and an official announcement was originally expected on Monday, July 31. Fox and Flutter have now confirmed the news in an official statement.

The suggested decoupling from the Fox Bet brand will proceed on amicable terms, as Flutter will retain control over the customer database, as it can actionably use it elsewhere, whilst Fox will still have rights to the namesake brand and be offered a chance to purchase an 18.6% in FanDuel, which is Flutter’s leading sports betting arm.

Reuters and Bloomberg have both reached out to Fox and Flutter for comments, but both companies have declined. The arrival of Fox Bet in the regulated sports gambling market was an interesting event, and it came at a time when sports betting brands were gathering momentum.

The idea of leveraging famous lifestyle and media brands to plunge into the sports betting landscape seemed intuitive, smart, and calculated, but several years later this concept has come under assault, with Fox Bet the latest example of companies that have been forced to exit the otherwise lucrative sports betting market.

MaximBet, a sports betting brand based on the popular lifestyle magazine, has also faced a similar fate, after the company announced in 2022 that it had decided to withdraw as it cited difficulties in delivering on shareholder value.

Meanwhile, others have been moving quickly into the space, with Fanatics, a sports apparel company also securing an entry into the market, and recently acquiring PointsBet’s assets in the United States. Fox and Flutter have not been on the best of terms either.

Although fully-fledged partners, the companies actually had a bit of an inrun. Back in 2021, Fox filed a lawsuit against Flutter, seeking to secure the rights to purchase the 18.6% stake in FanDuel, as the partners ended up bickering over the price of the share, which resulted in the brief unpleasantness.

However, Fox and Flutter have since moved on and they are firmly fixated on the future as sports betting in the United States becomes more competitive by the day.

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