FanDuel was founded by a group of executives in 2009 who chose to pivot away from Hubdub, a news protection site. This happened after they gathered $1.2m in funding from venture capital firms Pentech Ventures and Scottish Enterprise.
The company chose to focus on fantasy sports and, in 2010, it hosted its first ‘FanDuel Fantasy Football Championship’, the winner of which snagged $25,000.
From 2013 to 2015, FanDuel won a series of funding rounds, accumulating $275m. This whirlwind success in financing led to the company being valued at over $1bn. It was in the previous year, 2012, that DraftKings first arrived on the fantasy sports betting scene: they would go on to be FanDuel’s main rival.
In 2015, FanDuel employed 38 employees who Zynga 365 sports had laid off. It also acquired sports analytics company numberFire and app developer Kotikan. Kotikan developed the company’s app and was subsequently brought in-house to help further develop mobile offerings.
It was in the same year that The New York Times reported that an employee of DraftKings inadvertently released data ahead of NFL games and won $350,000 on the FanDuel website. This led to both companies agreeing to prohibit their employees from playing in contests for money on any rival websites.
In 2016, DraftKings and Fanduel announced their intention to merge but the Federal Trade Commission ruled this out, as combined, the two companies would have a monopoly on daily fantasy sports betting.
Paddy Power, an Ireland-based bookmaker, acquired FanDuel in 2018, contributing $158m to the company and merging the two companies' existing assets in the US. These assets included the horse racing-oriented cable networks TVG Network and TVG2.
The merger came as a result of the repeal of PASPA, and FanDuel’s advantageous position to offer a comprehensive sports betting platform for US bettors. The company then became known as FanDuel Group, with Paddy Power Betfair owning a 61% stake.
A few days after the merger was completed, FanDuel opened its first sportsbook at the Meadowlands Racetrack in New Jersey. This was quickly followed by the opening of sportsbooks in New Jersey, Illinois, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and New York.
Paddy Power Betfair changed its name to Flutter Entertainment and in 2020, it increased its stake in the FanDuel Group to 95%.
FanDuel has consolidated high-profile partnerships with major sports brands: in 2018 it announced a team sponsorship with the NHL's New Jersey Devils.
More recently, in February 2022, FanDuel became the official sports betting partner of the NHL's Buffalo Sabres. They later announced a promotional deal with boxer Amanda Serrano and became a sports betting partner of the New York Yankees in April.
Locations: Edinburgh, London, California, New Jersey, Florida, New York, Oregon.
Key personnel:
Chief Technology Officer: Tim Morrow
Chief Operating Officer: Andrew Giancamilli
Chief Marketing Officer: Mike Raffensperger
Chief People Officer: Tricia Alcamo
Dr Anthony Lucas, Professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, speaks to Tim Poole on the Huddle about the paper he released this year on the limitations of free play within land-based casinos. He does, however, understand why gaming executives may not jump to embrace his ideas. We discuss:
Greentube's Chief Financial Officer and Chief Games Officer, Michael Bauer, joins Tim Poole on the Huddle to discuss all things Greentube and all things North America.
