{"id":190684,"date":"2021-11-01T12:11:24","date_gmt":"2021-11-01T19:11:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=190684"},"modified":"2021-11-01T14:46:46","modified_gmt":"2021-11-01T21:46:46","slug":"the-athletic-could-be-takeover-target-for-draftkings-fanduel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/the-athletic-could-be-takeover-target-for-draftkings-fanduel\/","title":{"rendered":"DraftKings, FanDuel Reportedly Bidding for The Athletic"},"content":{"rendered":"

DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) and rival FanDuel are among the companies reportedly bidding for The Athletic <\/i>after talks with other media outlets fell apart.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Athletic co-founders Alex Mather, left, and Adam Hansmann, pictured above. Their company is rumored to have a takeover target. (Image: Axios<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Athletic <\/i>is a subscription-based sports media entity backed by investors including Courtside Ventures, Founders Fund, and Powerhouse Capital. It is seeking a valuation of at least $750 million, according to The Information<\/a><\/i>, which broke the news of the gaming companies joining the fray for the San Francisco-based company.<\/p>\n

Launched in 2016 by Alex Mather and Adam Hansmann, The Athletic <\/i>covers sports in 47 North American cities and the UK. A year ago, the company topped the one million subscribers mark, and it’s been rumored to be a takeover target for much of this year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In March, speculation surfaced that The Athletic<\/i> was discussing a merger with Axios <\/i>and that the result of that marriage would have been the combined entity going public via a transaction with a special purpose acquisition company<\/a> (SPAC).\u00a0 But those talks fell apart. In June, it was revealed the sports media property was holding talks with the New York Times<\/i>, but those negotiations were also scrapped.<\/p>\n

DraftKings, FanDuel Are Sensible Suitors<\/h2>\n

DraftKings and FanDuel, a unit of UK-based Flutter Entertainment (OTC:PDYPY), both make for practical bidders for <\/span>The Athletic. <\/i>That’s<\/span> because sportsbook operators are eagerly diving into media partnerships and deals as avenues for attracting and retaining clients.<\/span><\/p>\n

In January, Macquarie Research forecast more than $30 billion<\/a> worth of iGaming and sports wagering revenue by 2030, all attributable to operator relationships with media firms. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n

For its part, DraftKings is active in media deal-making. The Boston-based gaming company purchased Vegas Sports Information Network (VSiN) in March. A month later, it announced a $50 million investment in Meadowlark Media. Meadowlark Media is the owner of Dan Le Batard\u2019s network of shows. The company was tied to speculation surrounding Score Media & Gaming, which was ultimately acquired by rival Penn National Gaming (NASDAQ:PENN).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Speaking of Penn, <\/span>Barstool Sports<\/i><\/span> founder David Portnoy said his company<\/a> held talks with DraftKings prior to agreeing to a deal with Penn in January 2020. DraftKings also reportedly made a run at <\/span>The Action Network<\/i><\/span>, which was purchased by Danish betting analytics provider Better Collective for $240 million.<\/span><\/p>\n

Big Valuation Increase, MGM Involvement<\/span><\/h2>\n

The Athletic <\/span><\/i>seeking a valuation of $750 million implies the company is worth 50 percent more today than it was in 2020. Commanding that price tag is a different matter because it’s believed the media company isn’t turning a profit and is burning cash.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last year<\/strong>, <\/span>the media firm raised $50 million in venture funding, valuing it at $500 million<\/a>. Bedrock Capital, Founders Fund, and actor Matthew McConaughey participated in that funding round<\/span><\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Another point of interest is that the sports media property has a partnership with BetMGM, though it’s not clear if MGM Resorts (NYSE:MGM) and Entain — BetMGM’s operators — are mulling a run at <\/span>The Athletic.<\/i><\/span> BetMGM also has a media deal with <\/span>Yahoo! Sports<\/i><\/span>. To date, the gaming company hasn’t pursued direct media acquisitions, as have some of its rivals.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) and rival FanDuel are among the companies reportedly bidding for The Athletic after talks with other media outlets fell apart. The Athletic is a subscription-based sports media entity backed by investors including Courtside Ventures, Founders Fund, and Powerhouse Capital. It is seeking a valuation of at least $750 million, according to The Information, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":190685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Athletic Could Be Takeover Target For DraftKings, FanDuel<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Athletic is rumored to be for sale and it's said to be drawing interest from gaming companies like DraftKings and FanDuel.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Athletic Could Be Takeover Target For DraftKings, FanDuel\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Athletic is rumored to be for sale and it's said to be drawing interest from gaming companies like DraftKings and FanDuel.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/the-athletic-could-be-takeover-target-for-draftkings-fanduel\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-11-01T19:11:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-11-01T21:46:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/athletic.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@etfgodfather\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Todd Shriber\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/the-athletic-could-be-takeover-target-for-draftkings-fanduel\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/the-athletic-could-be-takeover-target-for-draftkings-fanduel\/\",\"name\":\"The Athletic Could Be Takeover Target For DraftKings, FanDuel\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/the-athletic-could-be-takeover-target-for-draftkings-fanduel\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/the-athletic-could-be-takeover-target-for-draftkings-fanduel\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/athletic.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-01T19:11:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-01T21:46:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"The Athletic is rumored to be for sale and it's said to be drawing interest from gaming companies like DraftKings and FanDuel.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/the-athletic-could-be-takeover-target-for-draftkings-fanduel\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/the-athletic-could-be-takeover-target-for-draftkings-fanduel\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/the-athletic-could-be-takeover-target-for-draftkings-fanduel\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/athletic.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/athletic.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080,\"caption\":\"The Athletic co-founders Alex Mather, left, and Adam Hansmann. 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