DAILY fantasy sports business FanDuel has pulled the plug on its UK operation weeks after abandoning plans to merge with US rival DraftKings.
Despite being founded in Edinburgh, from launch in 2009 most of FanDuel’s business has been conducted in the US, where players pick real American footballers or basketball players for fantasy teams that compete against each other based on their members’ actual performance.
Last year the business expanded the model into the UK, where players competed with fantasy teams drawn from football players in the English Premier League.
According to a note posted on FanDuel’s UK website, the business “will not be offering contests in the UK this season”.
A spokeswoman for the firm said the reason for the move is to “focus on our product in the US”.
Last month FanDuel and DraftKings dropped their merger bid after facing strong opposition from US competition watchdog the Federal Trade Commission, which said the deal would have created a “near monopoly” in the fantasy sports market.
Separately, both companies are facing a multi-district US class action that includes claimants from 26 states and contains over 20 consumer-protection allegations including insider dealing and bonus fraud.
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