The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has said that it will seek to block the proposed merger between daily fantasy sports (DFS) companies DraftKings and FanDuel. According to reports in the US, the FTC has raised concerns over how the deal could impact competition in the US DFS sector, forecasting that the combined company would control over 90% of the domestic market. The FTC, along with attorneys general in California and the District of Columbia, will file for a complaint in federal district court and seek a preliminary injunction to block the deal. “This merger would deprive customers of the…

In mid-November 2016 the two largest daily fantasy football companies, DraftKings & FanDuel, announced a merger of equals. The thinking was that instead of pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into continuing to fight each other, they could fight legal and political battles together & continue to expand. When the news broke, ReCode quoted “the merger still needs to pass regulatory approval, but it’s hard to imagine that will be a problem.” So why haven’t we heard anything substantial since then? Why have almost four months gone by with no news of a confirmed merger? A period of silence of…