Mr Murdoch’s Fox Corporation is in line to buy part of the business from owner Flutter Entertainment,the FTSE 100 betting giant behind Sky Bet and a host of gambling brands.
The move would mark a strengthening of ties between Fox and Flutter,which has emerged as an early victor of the liberalisation of sports betting in the US as firms race to conquer what is likely to become the world’s most lucrative market.
FanDuel has surged ahead of rivals as thedecades-long ban on sports wagering is rolled back on a state-by-state basis. Peter Jackson,Flutter chief executive,said:“We are the number one player there[in the US].
“Our revenues in 2020 were greater than the number two and number three players combined.”
The ties between Flutter and Fox stem from a deal between Fox Bet and Toronto-listed Stars Group. Flutter merged with Stars Group,the owner of Sky Bet,in a deal worth $US11 billion ($14.1 billion) last year.
Fox is also one of Flutter’s biggest shareholders with a 2.6 per cent stake worth about £650 million ($1.16 billion).