Nearly two months after Irish sports betting industry titan Paddy Power Betfair and leading American daily fantasy sports brand FanDuel first announced plans to merge, the deal is officially complete. Paddy Power Betfair and FanDuel are combining forces to, according to a release, create “the largest online sports destination in the United States.”
FanDuel and competitor DraftKings have insisted for years that their DFS offerings shouldn’t be defined as sports gambling, but since the Supreme Court’s reversal of PASPA, the companies have been less shy about entering this legal, regulated space. And FanDuel’s merger with Paddy Power Betfair is a massive leap forward on that front.