Fanatics In Talks To Acquire Sportsbook

Fanatics may be closing in on a deal to buy a sportsbook operation.

Rush Street Interactive, valued at $3.61 billion, and Betsson, valued at $1.3 billion, have reportedly held discussions with the $18 billion sports merchandiser.

The potential move comes after Fanatics has taken steps to pad its betting portfolio in recent months, hoping to tap into its customer base of over 80 million sports fans and the $211 billion sports betting market.

• Fanatics teamed up with Penn National (Barstool Sportsbook) to enter a joint bid for a New York sports betting license.
• Jay-Z joined the board of Fanatics Betting and Gaming as vice chairman in August shortly after the rapper and his company, Roc Nation, participated in Fanatics’ $325 million funding round.
• The company hired Matt King, former CEO of FanDuel, to work with CEO Michael Rubin on “new ventures.”

Rush Street Interactive is currently in 10 states, while Betsson doesn’t yet operate in the U.S.

Sports betting isn’t the only new market Fanatics has entered recently. In August, the company struck trading card deals with MLB, MLBPA, NBA, NBPA, and NFLPA, adding to its e-commerce partnerships with all of the major U.S. sports leagues. It also owns NFT company Candy Digital.

Fanatics expects sales to hit $3 billion this year.