Flutter Entertainment, the parent company of Leeds-based Sky Bet and Sunderland’s tombola, is to close down its Fox Bet operation in the US.
Fox became the first major media company in the US to launch its own branded betting offering in 2019, a year after the US Supreme Court opened the door to legalised sports betting in Murphy vs. NCAA, presumably in an attempt to emulate Sky Sports’ successful, 2001-founded, betting arm in the UK with its own Fox Sports brand.
Fox and Flutter said that they will shut down the Fox Bet service in phases, with the shutdown due to be complete by the end of August.
Fox Bet offered both free games – Fox Bet Super 6 – which it offered nationwide, and gambling games in states where it had succesfully acquired a gambling licence – Colorado, New Jersey, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.
Fox initially partnered with Canadian online gambling firm The Stars Group to launch the service in May 2019, but became partnered with Flutter by default when it acquired Stars for $6bn in October of the same year. As part of that deal, Fox retains a 10-year option to acquire 18.6 percent of Flutter’s US subsidiary FanDuel for $3.7 billion.
Stars was also a former owner of Skybet prior to the 2019 merger which created the world’s largest online gambling company.
Flutter will keep Fox Bet’s customer database and its licences, while Fox will retain the Fox Bet brands, including the Fox Bet Super 6 brand name, and will “launch an all new Fox Super 6 game later this summer,” per the Hollywood Reporter.
