DraftKings Ends Daily Fantasy Sports in the UK

DraftKings, a leading gambling provider, terminated its daily fantasy sports offering in the UK on October 4th. Users were notified via email. Players could create virtual teams of real athletes to compete in various sports like football, basketball, American football, and baseball.

DraftKings decided to focus more on its core business in North America, aiming to optimize operations. This move reflects their commitment to growth in key markets such as US sports betting.

DraftKings Shifts Focus to North American Sports Betting Market

To enhance business efficiency, DraftKings concentrated on North American sports betting, partnering with tech giant Apple to provide a sports betting app for players in the US and Canada. The app offers odds from DraftKings and utilizes the company’s data.

DFS vs. Sorare: Similarities and Differences

Both Daily Fantasy Sports and Sorare involve creating virtual teams of real athletes to compete for prizes based on athletes’ actual performances. Sorare, unlike DFS, uses NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) for unique virtual player cards stored in the blockchain, allowing card trading.

DraftKings’ UK Market Entry and Partnership with FC Liverpool

DraftKings initiated fantasy sports in the UK on February 5, 2016, setting up an office in London and obtaining a license for pool betting. They formed a partnership with FC Liverpool in the Premier League. Pool betting involves players contributing to a pool, with winners sharing the pot.

DraftKings expanded its fantasy sports offering to Malta, Norway, Austria, and Australia in 2023. Following their UK withdrawal on October 4th, other providers like Yahoo and FanDuel had already left the UK market due to low margins and limited growth potential.