FOX Bet to Close by End of August After Four Years of Operation

• The Flutter-owned FOX Bet is no longer accepting wagers
• Accounts will be open until Aug. 31, 2023
• FOX Bet was live in four states

Maybe instead of Taps to announce FOX Bet’s closure it would be more appropriate to play the NFL on FOX injury music?

FOX and Flutter Entertainment announced today a phased closure of FOX Bet beginning July 31, 2023. Bets will no longer be accepted starting today, but customer accounts will remain open through Thursday, Aug. 31.

FOX launched the sportsbook in 2019 as part of the Stars Group along with PokerStars. The popular poker app and online casino will not be affected by the FOX Bet closure.

FOX Bet Announces Closure Overnight

FOX Bet users logging onto their apps their morning were greeted with an announcement that the sportsbook would no longer be accepting bets. The operator also made the announcement on their social media channels.

Flutter Inc. announced today the closure of @FOXBet. Accounts will remain open until Aug. 31.

PokerStars will not be affected by the closure. pic.twitter.com/v8GoB4dI03

— RLinnehanXL (@RLinnehanXl) July 31, 2023

The operator was only live in four states: New Jersey, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. FOX Bet struggled to gain market share since its 2019 launch. The Stars Group was acquired and operated by Flutter as of May 2022.

Flutter released the following statement in a press release today:

“Flutter operated FOX Bet as part of The Stars Group US (“TSG US”) along with the US facing operations of PokerStars. Flutter will retain ownership of PokerStars, in addition to U.S. sports betting market leader FanDuel. FOX will retain future use of the FOX and FOX Bet brands, including FOX Bet Super 6, and intends to launch an all-new FOX Super 6 game later this summer.”

FOX and Flutter Took to Court in 2021

FOX will continue to hold its option to acquire 18.6% of FanDuel, which had been a point of contention between the two companies. The two went to court over the 18.6% option in April 2021, with FOX forced to pay a $4.1 billion fee for its option. FOX questioned the market valuation of FanDuel from December 2020 when Flutter acquired the remaining 37.2% stake of the operator’s shares from FastBall Holdings.

A U.S. court ruled that FOX’s option should be in line with a $20 billion valuation of FanDuel, rather than a previously estimated valuation of $11.2 billion for the company.

FOX has a ten-year period from December 2020 within which to exercise the option, should it wish to do so, subject to an annual compounding carrying value adjustment of 5%.

FOX will also continue to hold a 2.5% stake in Flutter overall.