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PointsBet has announced the sale of its US assets to Fanatics in a $150 million deal.
The deal, announced Sunday, is not expected to be finalized until PointsBet shareholders vote on the sale next month, MarketWatch reports.
The pending sale comes days before Florida-based Fanatics — a sports merch and sports betting company — plans to launch its mobile app in Massachusetts, where PointsBet withdrew its mobile application early this year.
“Fanatics and PointsBet are excited to enter into an agreement for Fanatics Betting and Gaming to acquire PointsBet’s U.S. business,” the companies said in Sunday’s joint statement. “While there are still several steps in the process to complete the acquisition, both parties are confident in the outcome. Fanatics Betting and Gaming and PointsBet will provide further details of the proposed deal and timely updates in the coming weeks.”
Once final, the acquisition will give Fanatics mobile market access to more than a dozen states where PointsBet is licensed. The Australia-based PointsBet launched in the US in 2019 and has operations in Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia. The company also operates in Australia and Canada.
PointsBet withdrew its bid to enter the Massachusetts sports betting market in February after qualifying for a temporary mobile license early this year. The sportsbook notified the MGC of its decision in writing weeks before the Bay State’s mobile launch on March 10.
Fanatics Licensed for Sports Betting in Four States
Fanatics Sportsbook is now licensed in Massachusetts, Ohio, Tennessee, and Maryland, where the company launched a retail sportsbook in January. It is expected to launch its first mobile app this week in Massachusetts in partnership with Plainridge Park Casino (PPC). Barstool Sportsbook also has a mobile sportsbook partnership with PPC.
A full Fanatics mobile launch is still pending in Ohio and Tennessee, where the sportsbook is currently available only to existing Fanatics customers.
Deal Would Keep Rubin’s Rollout on Track
The PointsBet deal is expected to boost the market value of Fanatics, which reportedly reached a valuation of $31 billion in Dec. 2022 pending its entry into the US sports betting realm.
Fanatics founder and CEO Michael Rubin announced plans in 2021 for the longtime sports merch company to enter the digital sports betting world under a newly created Fanatics Betting & Gaming arm. A $700 million funding round for the company in late 2022 was followed by the launch of the Fanatics retail sportsbook in Maryland last January.
Rubin announced at the 2022 CAA World Congress of Sports that he aimed for Fanatics Sportsbook to have market access to 15 to 20 states by the fall of 2023, and acquiring PointsBet’s US assets would get the company to that goal.
