One of the leading sports companies is making a bigger bet on future growth from the sports betting sector with an acquisition announced over the weekend.
What Happened: Sports apparel company Fanatics is acquiring the U.S. division of sports betting operator PointsBet for $150 million. The deal could help Fanatics as it looks to push deeper into the sports betting sector.
Fanatics launched online sports betting in Tennessee and Ohio recently and the company has been one of the key companies seen as making an aggressive push to take on the market leaders.
By acquiring PointsBet U.S., Fanatics will gain sports betting technology and get access to several new states, as reported by Sportico.
PointsBet, an Australian company, launched sports betting operations in the U.S. in 2019 and has been one of the top 10 operators in several states. A recent report saw PointsBet U.S. having a market share of 3.7% back in September.
NBC Sports, a unit of Comcast Corporation CMCSA, landed an exclusive deal with PointsBet, which was amended earlier this year. Comcast owns a stake in PointsBet. Finance company Susquehanna also owns 12.8% of PointsBet and is the largest shareholder of the company.
NBC and PointsBet extended an existing five-year deal for two additional years, as reported by Axios.
PointsBet previously said it was exploring selling its U.S. division with Fanatics seen as one of the potential acquirers.
Related Link: Fanatics Acquires Topps In $500M Deal, Months After Landing Licenses Away
Why It’s Important: Fanatics was valued at $31 billion in December 2021 with a $700 million funding round led by Clearlake. Other investors in Fanatics include SoftBank, Silver Lake, Fidelity, Roc Nation, Jay-Z and Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Capital. Several sports leagues and team owners also own stakes in the company with the MLB and NFL investing in Fanatics back in 2017.
The company has seen its valuation soar over the past few years with an $18 billion valuation in August 2021 when it pushed into the sports card market and a prior valuation of $6.2 billion in August 2020.
With operations across apparel and trading cards, Fanatics could use its huge customer base as a key advantage, according to Sportico. The company has more than 95 million sports fans in its database and plans to offer betting rewards including apparel and trading cards.
Fanatics is expected to have revenue of $8 billion in 2023, according to a Sportico report from 2022. The company operates with three units of Commerce, Collectibles and Betting & Gaming.
For more on the sports betting landscape and what could be next for popular betting segments and legislation, tune in to the Benzinga Sports Betting Titans virtual event on May 24.
Photo: Football player, Shutterstock
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