FanDuel cuts UK product
DFS operator says UK-facing platform is “on hiatus” for upcoming season, less than one year after launch
FanDuel has suspended its UK operations ahead of the upcoming season, the firm announced today.
An email sent to customers this morning said: “We are on hiatus for the 2017/2018 season.”
The message continued: “You made the 2016/17 season a debut to remember. Almost £1m was won by our UK-based fantasy football enthusiasts. Thank you for your support.
“Unfortunately, we will not be offering contests in the UK this upcoming season. We hope to be back in the future, bringing you more of the games you love.”
The firm added it would be crediting balances back to bank accounts.
FanDuel said in a statement provided to EGR: “We will not be operating our UK product this upcoming EPL season to focus on our product in the US. As we approach the NFL season, we are allocating all of our resources towards ramping up a US product that consumers love and building out complementary fantasy sports products. There are over 53M people playing fantasy sports in the United States and we are investing all of our resources on that market.”
The move comes just weeks after FanDuel’s merger with DraftKings fell through, with several outlets reporting that the company is seeking to raise new funds and “get lean” ahead of the next NFL season in the US.
The FanDuel UK product was launched last August after a 12-month development period which saw the firm create a UK-specific platform from scratch, rather than simply transplanting the US product as DraftKings did.