The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has said that it will seek to block the proposed merger between daily fantasy sports (DFS) companies DraftKings and FanDuel. According to reports in the US, the FTC has raised concerns over how the deal could impact competition in the US DFS sector, forecasting that the combined company would control over 90% of the domestic market. The FTC, along with attorneys general in California and the District of Columbia, will file for a complaint in federal district court and seek a preliminary injunction to block the deal. “This merger would deprive customers of the…

[three_fifth padding=”0 15px 0 15px”] [/three_fifth]Players have been anticipating the rumored merger between fantasy sports giants DraftKings and FanDuel for many months. Now, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission may throw a wrench into the deal. Also, there is fantasy news from Germany. This week’s special offer is from bet365 Poker, where you can get a €100 bonus and Tournament Tickets Worth €5 free!

In mid-November 2016 the two largest daily fantasy football companies, DraftKings & FanDuel, announced a merger of equals. The thinking was that instead of pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into continuing to fight each other, they could fight legal and political battles together & continue to expand. When the news broke, ReCode quoted “the merger still needs to pass regulatory approval, but it’s hard to imagine that will be a problem.” So why haven’t we heard anything substantial since then? Why have almost four months gone by with no news of a confirmed merger? A period of silence of…

William Hill’s largest shareholder has been trying to spark new merger and acquisition talks over the past several months, The Sunday Times reported. Privately owned hedge fund Parvus Asset Management owns a 14.3% share in one of UK’s largest gambling operators. The UK Government is set to publish a triennial review of the country’s gambling industry with particular focus on the highly controversial fixed-odds betting terminals. It is believed that new measures on how the machines are to be regulated will be introduced and these will certainly come as a big blow to the operator’s profitability. This is why it…

Now that the two largest online daily fantasy sports sites are back in the news—nearing a deal to merge into a company drawing $100 million in revenue, according to the Wall Street Journal—it’s a good time to answer a nasty, nagging question: Are these sites legal? Because the companies in question, FanDuel and DraftKings, are backed, respectively, by fat investments from Comcast and 21st Century Fox, it’s apparent that some high-powered attorneys must think that they are. And in fact, at this point, they’re clearly legal in at least nine states. So the real question is whether they will become…

The UK’s William Hill and Canada’s Amaya are in discussions that could lead to a £4.6bn all share merger to create one of the world’s largest gambling companies, as the groups become swept up in the wave of consolidation hitting the betting industry. On Saturday, the boards of the two companies confirmed they were in talks in response to press speculation, saying that a merger would create a clear international leader across online sports betting, poker and casino games. The merger would be classified as a reverse takeover, with the smaller group William Hill taking over the larger company, Amaya….

DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said that a possible merger between his company and FanDuel is a “very interesting idea” that could add value for shareholders and provide customers with a better service at a better cost. But he declined to rate the chances of it happening after recent reports of merger discussions between the two daily fantasy sports rivals. “I don’t really have much more insight into how likely or not likely that would be,” Robins told USA TODAY Sports Saturday. “I certainly haven’t changed my view on how interesting it is.” United as one or not, Robins still said he sees…

Ian Bull, chief financial officer of Ladbrokes, has opted to sell his stake in the UK bookmaker ahead of its proposed merger with rival gambling operator Gala Coral. As reported by iGaming Business, Ladbrokes and Gala Coral last month stated they were closing in on a deal that will lead to the creation of a business worth approximately £2.3 billion (€3.4 billion/$3.6 billion). Although the deal is yet to be finalised, global investment banking firm Jefferies last week warned of the potential challenges that the merger could create. Jefferies’ suggestion that Coral is “not a perfect fit” to help Ladbrokes…