Two American pro sports leagues are ditching their equity stakes in daily fantasy sports (DFS) operators DraftKings and FanDuel as the possibility of legal sports betting draws closer.
On Thursday, ESPN reported that Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association were in talks to unload their ownership stakes in DraftKings and FanDuel, respectively. It’s unknown how advanced these talks are or what type of payday the leagues are expecting.
The leagues and DFS operators insisted that the sell-offs weren’t acrimonious and that the parties would continue to work together to boost fan engagement and the like.
NBA spokesman Mike Bass said FanDuel has been a “great partner” but “the space is evolving and we saw the need to take a fresh look at the structure of our relationship.” MLB issued a statement obliquely referencing “potential changes to the structure of our relationship” with DraftKings, while insisting it would continue its “valued partnership” with the league’s official DFS operator.