{"id":197272,"date":"2022-01-06T11:21:32","date_gmt":"2022-01-06T19:21:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=197272"},"modified":"2022-01-06T12:00:51","modified_gmt":"2022-01-06T20:00:51","slug":"draftkings-fanduel-wont-be-acquiring-the-athletic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-fanduel-wont-be-acquiring-the-athletic\/","title":{"rendered":"DraftKings, FanDuel Miss Out on The Athletic"},"content":{"rendered":"

DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) and FanDuel are two of the most obvious rivals in the daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports wagering industries. Both are missing out on a coveted media asset.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Athletic<\/em> co-founders Alex Mather, left, and Adam Hansmann. Their company is being acquired by the New York Times<\/em>. (Image: Axios<\/em>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The New York Times Co. (NYSE:NYT), owner of the eponymous newspaper, is reportedly acquiring The Athletic<\/i> for $550 million. The Athletic <\/i>is a subscription-based sports media entity backed by investors including Courtside Ventures, Founders Fund, and Powerhouse Capital. The Information<\/i><\/a> reported the Times <\/i>deal earlier today.<\/p>\n

It’s a blow for DraftKings and FanDuel, both of which were rumored to be suitors<\/a> for the San Francisco-based sports media entity last year.<\/p>\n

It’s not clear if either gaming company made formal offers for The Athletic<\/i>. However, it is obvious The Times<\/i> is paying much less than the target was likely initially pursuing. Just a few months ago, it was rumored The Athletic <\/i>was pursuing a $750 million valuation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

DraftKings, FanDuel Still Have Ample Media Ties<\/h2>\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\u2019s been rumored to be a takeover target for much of 2021.<\/p>\n

\n

While it was never officially revealed that either DraftKings or FanDuel were pursuing The Athletic<\/i>, the recent spate of media\/sports betting relationships indicate it’s likely one or both operators were considering a bid for the media entity. Last year, 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<\/div>\n

Last year, Boston-based DraftKings purchased Vegas Sports Information Network (VSiN) and followed that up with a $50 million investment in Meadowlark Media. Meadowlark Media is the owner of Dan Le Batard\u2019s network of shows. The company also attempted to acquire<\/a> <\/span>The Action Network<\/i><\/span>, which was purchased by Danish betting analytics provider Better Collective for $240 million. <\/span><\/p>\n

Last month, FanDuel revealed a deal with the \u201cPat McAfee Show\u201d reportedly worth $30 million<\/a> annually.<\/span><\/p>\n

Times Might Need Athletic<\/span><\/h2>\n

The<\/i><\/span> Times<\/i><\/span> is focusing on digital and subscription-based offerings to stem declines in advertising revenue and print subscriptions. <\/span>The Athletic <\/i><\/span>helps with those objectives. It’s believed the acquisition will help the buyer reach its goal of 10 million digital subscribers earlier than previously expected.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shares of the newspaper publisher are off 5.52 percent over the past year, while the S&P 500 is higher by 25.39 percent over the same period<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

For DraftKings and FanDuel, both of which operate cost-intensive models with heavy marketing spending, missing out on <\/span>The Athletic<\/i><\/span> isn’t the worst thing. That’s because the media property is forecasting notch 2021 revenue of $77 million, with a cash burn rate of $35 million. At a time when Wall Street is scrutinizing sportsbook operators’ time lines to profitability, bringing another cash-burning enterprise into the fold might not be the best idea.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DraftKings (NASDAQ:DKNG) and FanDuel are two of the most obvious rivals in the daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports wagering industries. Both are missing out on a coveted media asset. The New York Times Co. (NYSE:NYT), owner of the eponymous newspaper, is reportedly acquiring The Athletic for $550 million. The Athletic is a subscription-based sports […]<\/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":[10,32093],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDraftKings, FanDuel Won't Be Acquiring The Athletic<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New York Times wins The Athletic as DraftKings, FanDuel miss out on the media property.\" \/>\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=\"DraftKings, FanDuel Won't Be Acquiring The Athletic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New York Times wins The Athletic as DraftKings, FanDuel miss out on the media property.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-fanduel-wont-be-acquiring-the-athletic\/\" \/>\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=\"2022-01-06T19:21:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-01-06T20:00:51+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=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-fanduel-wont-be-acquiring-the-athletic\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-fanduel-wont-be-acquiring-the-athletic\/\",\"name\":\"DraftKings, FanDuel Won't Be Acquiring The Athletic\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-fanduel-wont-be-acquiring-the-athletic\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-fanduel-wont-be-acquiring-the-athletic\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/athletic.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-06T19:21:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-01-06T20:00:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/f4cecf70a5032bc4e60eb73fc86d4a85\"},\"description\":\"New York Times wins The Athletic as DraftKings, FanDuel miss out on the media property.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-fanduel-wont-be-acquiring-the-athletic\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-fanduel-wont-be-acquiring-the-athletic\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/draftkings-fanduel-wont-be-acquiring-the-athletic\/#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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