The FTC has "raised serious competition concerns with the proposed merger of FanDuel and DraftKings ... raising the specter that the government agency could soon block the deal," according to sources cited by Tony Romm of RECODE. The merger as originally proposed would grant FanDuel and DraftKings perhaps more than 80% "of that particular market." That is a "significant foothold in the industry, and it’s weighed heavily on some legal staff at the FTC, which began its customary antitrust review of the merger shortly after it was announced" in November. Currently, a recommendation by some at the FTC to sue to stop the deal is "only an initial step in the process: It would still fall to the agency’s sitting commissioners to vote on the matter, which could happen this week." The question at issue in DraftKings and FanDuel's merger "isn’t whether the companies ... qualify as games of skill or chance -- it’s if the combination of DraftKings and FanDuel threatens competition." If the agency "only looks at the merger and its effects on daily fantasy sports, FanDuel and DraftKings are poised to face major antitrust roadblocks." The two companies in recent years "have unveiled other products, like season-long fantasy football, that puts FanDuel and DraftKings in competition with a broader array of companies" (RECODE.net, 6/14).
