Fanatics Agrees to Pay $150M to Acquire PointsBet’s U.S. Assets

Fanatics’ aim to launch sports betting in a dozen states by the start of the NFL regular season got a boost Sunday night. 

Fanatics is paying $150 million cash to acquire PointsBet’s U.S. operations, the companies announced in a joint statement. The move — which will require approvals by PointsBet shareholders at the end of June and by regulators — will eventually give Fanatics a dozen states where it doesn’t operate now. 

“While there are still several steps in the process to complete the acquisition, both parties are confident in the outcome,” PointsBet and Fanatics said. 

PointsBet will retain its Australian and Canadian operations. The company hired an investment firm last month to explore a sale of the assets Fanatics agreed to acquire. 

Fanatics Betting and Gaming’s app is currently in a wide beta in Tennessee and Ohio. It is expected to roll out mobile gaming in Maryland — where it launched the first sportsbook inside an NFL stadium at the Commanders’ FedEx Field earlier this year — and Massachusetts in the coming weeks. 

Fanatics, a private company valued at $31 billion, won’t just take over PointsBet’s states. Still, the sports merchandise manufacturer and retailing giant also gets risk management and trading software in the deal.

Once the transaction becomes final, it’s expected that Fanatics will integrate that tech — including code from PointsBet’s 2021 acquisition of Banach Technology — into its betting app. Until then, the PointsBet app will remain operational. 

PointsBet’s commercial commitments with NBCUniversal will be transferred to Fanatics as part of the deal, according to the joint statement.