PointsBet Considering Proposal for US Assets from DraftKings Sportsbook

Pennsylvania Sports Betting has both DraftKings and Pennsylvania available to use. Fanatics is still in its beta stage and has not applied to operate in Pennsylvania. If the Fanatics sale were to continue, it would have allowed them to use the PointsBet license to operate in Pennsylvania Online Sports Betting. 

The DraftKings offer of $195 million is $45 million more than the Fanatics offer of $150 million. If the offer is as it seems on paper, accepting the DraftKings offer is a no-brainer. The offer is a 30% increase in the cash value.

However, what remains to be seen is all of the terms and such inside the offer, as it appears that would be the only hurdle to PointsBet taking a more lucrative offer.

The PointsBet board of directors told shareholders that their recommendation is to still accept the Fantics offer as they consider the PointsBet offer. With a shareholder vote coming up on June 30th, everything is moving very fast.

While the PointsBet board of directors has accepted the Fantics offer, it is only official once the shareholders also vote in favor of it. The June 30th vote seemed just to be a matter of crossing the t's ad dotting the i's. The DraftKings offer may hold everything up now.

DraftKings gave PointsBet non-executive chairman Brett Paton and chief executive officer Sam Swannell a letter expressing their official interest. In the letter, DraftKings chief executive officer Jason Robbins described their offer as a "superior proposal" with a "significant premium" compared to the Fanatics offer.

In a CNBC interview, Fanatics CEO said he is skeptical of the DraftKings offer. He was quoted as saying, "It's a move to delay our ability to enter the market. I guess they are more concerned about us than I would have thought." 

From the PointsBet side, non-executive chairman Brett Paton provided DraftKings a letter sharing their next steps in the process. Highlights from the letter included Paton saying, "board is prepared to engage with DraftKings." 

Paton also said, "This will require agreement of a clean team protocol prior to the commencement of due diligence. In the interest of time, we suggest that DraftKings provides a clean team protocol that best works for your team."

If everything checks out, it is expected that DraftKing's bid will win out unless Fanatics ups their offer, which is possible. The purchase of PointsBet was supposed to give Fanatics access to all 14 states where PointsBet is operating. Without that, it will severely delay Fanatics' chances of entering multiple markets.

That includes the Pennsylvania Online Casinos and Sports Betting. Without acquiring PointsBet, Fanatics must apply Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board to operate in the Pennsylvania Online Sports Betting industry. 

With the high costs of getting into states and the arduous process, Fanatics bettering their offer is a possibility, but they will have to move quickly.