• About Us / Contact
This site contains commercial content
SportsHandle
  • US Sports Betting
    • Arizona Sports Betting
    • Arkansas
    • Colorado
    • Connecticut
    • Delaware
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Kansas
    • Louisiana
    • Maine
    • Maryland
    • Michigan
    • Mississippi
    • New Jersey
    • New York
    • Ohio Sports Betting
    • Pennsylvania
    • Tennessee
    • Virginia
    • West Virginia
    • Wyoming
  • Pending States
    • California
    • Florida
    • Georgia Sports Betting
    • Massachusetts Sports Betting
    • Missouri
    • North Carolina
  • Canada
    • Ontario
    • British Columbia
    • Alberta
  • Sportsbook Apps
    • FanDuel
    • BetMGM
    • Caesars
    • PointsBet
    • BetRivers
  • Tools
    • Sportsbook Bonuses Explained
    • Guide To ‘Risk-Free’ Bets
    • Common Beginner Mistakes
    • Sports Betting Podcasts
    • Expected Value
    • Sports Scores And Odds Apps
    • Sports Betting Twitter
    • Partnership Tracker
  • News
No Result
View All Result
SportsHandle
  • US Sports Betting
    • Arizona Sports Betting
    • Arkansas
    • Colorado
    • Connecticut
    • Delaware
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Kansas
    • Louisiana
    • Maine
    • Maryland
    • Michigan
    • Mississippi
    • New Jersey
    • New York
    • Ohio Sports Betting
    • Pennsylvania
    • Tennessee
    • Virginia
    • West Virginia
    • Wyoming
  • Pending States
    • California
    • Florida
    • Georgia Sports Betting
    • Massachusetts Sports Betting
    • Missouri
    • North Carolina
  • Canada
    • Ontario
    • British Columbia
    • Alberta
  • Sportsbook Apps
    • FanDuel
    • BetMGM
    • Caesars
    • PointsBet
    • BetRivers
  • Tools
    • Sportsbook Bonuses Explained
    • Guide To ‘Risk-Free’ Bets
    • Common Beginner Mistakes
    • Sports Betting Podcasts
    • Expected Value
    • Sports Scores And Odds Apps
    • Sports Betting Twitter
    • Partnership Tracker
  • News
No Result
View All Result
SportsHandle
No Result
View All Result

New Chapter For DraftKings, Which Is Going Public Via Acquisition By Diamond Eagle

Diamond Eagle is acquiring tech supplier SBTech alongside DraftKings

Matt Schmitto by Matt Schmitto
December 23, 2019
in Industry
Photo: Darren McCollester/Getty Images for DraftKings)

Photo: Darren McCollester/Getty Images for DraftKings)

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

In a press release Monday morning, DraftKings announced a merger with former Hollywood executive Jeff Sagansky’s special purpose acquisition company, Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp., and a more familiar name in the sports betting industry, SBTech. The three-way deal will take the daily fantasy sports and sports betting company DraftKings public sometime in the first half of 2020. 

Diamond Eagle currently trades on the Nasdaq under DEACU.  Once the merger is finalized, the combined entity will go by DraftKings Inc. and will trade under a not-yet-disclosed ticker symbol. The new company is expected to have a market cap of about $3.3 billion and will become the only U.S.-based vertically-integrated pure-play sports betting and online gaming company.

“The combination of DraftKings’ leading and trusted brand, deep focus on customer experience and data science expertise and SBTech’s highly innovative and proven technology platform creates a vertically-integrated powerhouse,” Jason Robins, co-founder and CEO of DraftKings, said in a statement. 

Diamond Eagle will be reincorporated as DraftKings Inc. in Nevada, and the new DraftKings will continue to be led by Robins and co-founders Paul Liberman and Matt Kalish. As of Monday afternoon, Diamond Eagles’ shares were up 9.64%. 

DraftKings and SBTech: Why the deal?

DraftKings is going public, and it’s forgoing the typical IPO process. Here’s what you need to know about the fantasy sports company’s new 3-way deal. https://t.co/BWbAXDT3Jo pic.twitter.com/8GsRdImyw9

— CNBC (@CNBC) December 23, 2019

Speaking Monday morning on CNBC’s Squawk Box, Robins explained why DraftKings saw value in the three-way merger. Using a special purpose acquisition company, such as Diamond Eagle, allows DraftKings to both secure desired capital and go public in one fell swoop. Otherwise, DraftKings’ road to going public would have likely been a more extensive process, requiring two separate transactions.

In addition to expediting the process of going public by foregoing a more traditional IPO acquisition, the deal leaves an estimated $500 million-plus of unrestricted cash on the balance sheet that DraftKings Inc. will use to help expand in the rapidly-growing U.S. sports betting market, as well as launch new betting markets for customers with the help of SBTech’s platform. 

“There’s a lot of new states that have recently legalized online sports betting. Michigan recently, Colorado about a month before,” Robins said. “We have a lot of really exciting new markets we would like to launch, and that requires capital investment.”

The vertical integration with SBTech, a global B2B tech provider with its own risk-management services, will bring technology in-house to DraftKings that has been outsourced up to this point.

Some revenue projections for the new combined @DraftKings/@SBTech_ entity:

2020: $540 million ($400 from DK, $140 from SB)
2021: $700 million ($550 from DK, $150 from SB)https://t.co/hUd11hhBbV #SportsBiz

— Eben Novy-Williams (@novy_williams) December 23, 2019

Kambi takes hit

Not everyone is as excited about the deal as DraftKings, SBTech and Diamond Eagle. Kambi Group, the B2B provider of sports betting technology service that had supplied DraftKings’ backend technology for the past 18 months, saw trading in KAMBI stock (FN Stockholm) halted after prices fell as much as 31% Monday morning. 

Kambi helped DraftKings launch its sports betting product after the two companies linked up in June of 2018. 

In August, the companies extended their agreement to include DraftKings’ expansion into eight additional states: Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and West Virginia.

That’ll be the case no more — well, eventually. 

In a statement released by Kambi following Monday’s news, Kambi CEO, Kristian Nylén said Kambi would continue to provide services to DraftKings for the time being. 

“It is of course not up to me to comment on the strategic choices of DraftKings, but in this context I would like to emphasise that Kambi has successfully built a strong position in the US and our partner network consists of high-quality, visionary operators, both in the US and across the world. Furthermore, we believe the combination of a competitor and a high-profile operator has the potential to strengthen the appeal of Kambi in future sales processes.

“Kambi recently signed a renewed deal with DraftKings and, as per that agreement, we will continue to provide the same high levels of product and service that enabled DraftKings to become a leading player across multiple US states. No notice of termination has been given; should that type of information be given, we will inform the market,” says Nylén.

Most recently, the New Hampshire State Lottery selected DraftKings to operate its mobile and retail sports betting, beating out Kambi among other bidders for the contract. The company’s online sportsbook will launch in New Hampshire on Dec. 30.

Beyond expanding into new markets, domestic and globally, DraftKings Inc. will take advantage of SBTech’s trading and risk management tools, bespoke risk and liability strategy, its own platform, managed services, and casino integrations, all things provided by the merger with SBTech that were not otherwise available in-house within the DraftKings-Kambi partnership, per DraftKings’ investor presentation. 

SBTech supplies backend technology and trading services to more than 50 partners in more than 20 markets, including Denmark, Spain, the U.K., and recently won the exclusive contract to operate the sportsbook through the Oregon Lottery Scoreboard.

Less than three months ago in October, FanDuel’s parent company Flutter Entertainment acquired The Stars Group (TSG) in a roughly $6 billion purchase. TSG now operates the sportsbook FOX Bet. Thus rapid consolidation in the very young U.S. sports betting market rolls on, and the range of legal sportsbook options for consumers narrows once more.

Share8TweetShare
Matt Schmitto

Matt Schmitto

Matt Schmitto is the sports betting editor for RotoGrinders. He grew up in Texas, graduating from Texas Tech University. After a short stint in law school, Schmitto joined RotoGrinders as a staff writer in 2019 and has contributed to Sports Handle and other sites in the US Bets network.

Related Posts

Shutterstock
Sports

Media Notebook: VSiN Prominent In Push For More Sports Betting Talk

June 22, 2022
north-carolina-state-flag
Legislation

North Carolina Legislators Plan To Increase Tax Rate In Sports Wagering Bill

June 17, 2022
Load More

Top Sportsbooks In Your State

1
WynnBET Sportsbook
Review / 4
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
2
FanDuel Sportsbook
Review / 4.8
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
3
BetMGM Sportsbook
Review / 4.5
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
1
BetMGM Sportsbook
Review / 4.5
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
2
Caesars Sportsbook
Review / 4.4
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
3
WynnBET Sportsbook
Review / 4
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
1
Caesars Sportsbook
Review / 4.4
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
2
WynnBET Sportsbook
Review / 4
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
3
BetMGM Sportsbook
Review / 4.5
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
1
FanDuel Sportsbook
Review / 4.8
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
2
SugarHouse Sportsbook
Review / 4.2
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
1
BetMGM Sportsbook
Review / 4.5
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
2
FanDuel Sportsbook
Review / 4.8
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
1
Caesars Sportsbook
Review / 4.4
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
2
bet365 Sportsbook
Review / 4.5
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
3
BetMGM Sportsbook
Review / 4.5
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
1
BetRivers Sportsbook
Review / 4.2
BET NOW
T&Cs ApplyOnly 1x Wager Applies
2
FOX Bet Sportsbook
Review / 4.3
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
3
BetMGM Sportsbook
Review / 4.5
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
1
Caesars Sportsbook
Review / 4.4
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
2
WynnBET Sportsbook
Review / 4
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
3
BetMGM Sportsbook
Review / 4.5
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
1
Caesars Sportsbook
Review / 4.4
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
2
BetMGM Sportsbook
Review / 4.5
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
3
FanDuel Sportsbook
Review / 4.8
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
1
Caesars Sportsbook
Review / 4.4
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
2
BetMGM Sportsbook
Review / 4.5
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
3
FanDuel Sportsbook
Review / 4.8
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
1
SI Sportsbook
Review / 4.1
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
2
Caesars Sportsbook
Review / 4.4
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
3
SuperBook Sports
Review / 4.3
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
1
Caesars Sportsbook
Review / 4.4
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
2
BetMGM Sportsbook
Review / 4.5
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
3
BetRivers Sportsbook
Review / 4.2
BET NOW
T&Cs ApplyOnly 1x Wager Applies
1
SI Sportsbook
Review / 4.1
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
2
Caesars Sportsbook
Review / 4.4
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
3
WynnBET Sportsbook
Review / 4
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
1
Caesars Sportsbook
Review / 4.4
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
2
BetMGM Sportsbook
Review / 4.5
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
3
FanDuel Sportsbook
Review / 4.8
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
1
Caesars Sportsbook
Review / 4.4
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
2
WynnBET Sportsbook
Review / 4
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
3
Betfred Sportsbook
Review / 3.8
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
1
BetRivers Sportsbook Ontario
Review / 4.3
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
2
BetMGM Sportsbook Ontario
Review / 4.5
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
3
NorthStar Bets Sportsbook
Review / 4.6
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
1
Bet99 Sportsbook
Review / 4.7
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
2
Sports Interaction Ontario
Review / 4.2
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
3
PowerPlay Sportsbook
Rating / 3.8
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
1
Monkey Knife Fight
Rating / 4.5
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.
2
PrizePicks
Rating / 4.2
BET NOW
T&Cs Apply21+. Eligibility restrictions apply. See website for details.

State Sports Betting Guides

Downtown Detroit at twilight (Shutterstock)

Michigan Sports Betting – Where To Play, Online Sportsbooks, And FAQ

by Brett Smiley
June 27, 2022

VA captial

Virginia Sports Betting – Where To Play, Online Sportsbooks And Bonus Offers

by Brett Smiley
March 21, 2021

nj flag

New Jersey Sports Betting — Where To Play, Online Sportsbooks, And FAQ

by Brett Smiley
March 22, 2022

pa online sportsbooks

Pennsylvania Sports Betting – Where To Play, Online Sportsbooks And Bonuses

by Brett Smiley
March 18, 2022

Most Read Stories

mattress mack betting charade

Will Everyone Please Stop Calling ‘Mattress Mack’ A Sports Bettor?

April 27, 2022
Photo: Jasen Vinlove/USA TODAY

Dave Portnoy Says, ‘F**k That Guy,’ To Which Bettor And Gambling Twitter Seriously Object

May 16, 2022
map-missouri

Missouri Sports Betting Bill Draws Debate, Backlash In Senate

May 5, 2022
golden-gate-bridge-san-francisco

California Tribes Won’t Try For Mobile Proposal On 2022 Ballot

May 10, 2022

Canada Sports Betting Guides

Canada Sports Betting – Best Sportsbook Apps & Bonus Offers

British Columbia Sports Betting – Legal Update, Available Sportsbooks, and FAQ

Ontario Sports Betting – Legal Status And Where To Play

gambling therapy
ncpg
igaming ontario
If you or someone you know has a gambling problem, crisis counseling and referral services can be accessed by calling 1-800-GAMBLER (1-800-426-2537) (IL). Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ/WV/PA/MI), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS OFF (IA), 1-888-532-3500 (VA) or call/text TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN).
19+. Please play responsibly. Terms and conditions apply. 
Individuals must be 19 years of age or older to participate in igaming in Ontario. Gambling can be addictive, please play responsibly. If you, or someone you know, has a gambling problem in Ontario and wants help, please visit ConnexOntario or call their helpline at 1-866-531-2600. Operators on this website operate pursuant to an Operating Agreement with iGaming Ontario.

Search Sports Handle

No Result
View All Result
  • About Us / Contact

No Result
View All Result
  • US Sports Betting
    • Arizona Sports Betting
    • Arkansas
    • Colorado
    • Connecticut
    • Delaware
    • Illinois
    • Indiana
    • Iowa
    • Kansas
    • Louisiana
    • Maine
    • Maryland
    • Michigan
    • Mississippi
    • New Jersey
    • New York
    • Ohio Sports Betting
    • Pennsylvania
    • Tennessee
    • Virginia
    • West Virginia
    • Wyoming
  • Pending States
    • California
    • Florida
    • Georgia Sports Betting
    • Massachusetts Sports Betting
    • Missouri
    • North Carolina
  • Canada
    • Ontario
    • British Columbia
    • Alberta
  • Sportsbook Apps
    • FanDuel
    • BetMGM
    • Caesars
    • PointsBet
    • BetRivers
  • Tools
    • Sportsbook Bonuses Explained
    • Guide To ‘Risk-Free’ Bets
    • Common Beginner Mistakes
    • Sports Betting Podcasts
    • Expected Value
    • Sports Scores And Odds Apps
    • Sports Betting Twitter
    • Partnership Tracker
  • News

Please share your location to continue.

Check our help guide for more info.

share your location