SBC News FanDuel waits on UK license approval for August launch

FanDuel waits on UK license approval for August launch

Nigel EcclesFanDuel have confirmed that they are working towards a target date for launch in the UK, but stressed that ‘the date is not set in stone and still provisional’. The company already have a license to operate remote gambling software but are still waiting on approval for their UK license application.

As reported on CalvinAyre.com, FanDuel CEO Nigel Eccles told Bloomberg last year that they hope to launch a UK-facing site to ‘test the waters’ and ‘prove that there is a market outside the U.S’. He said that the product may be subscription-based, as opposed to charging entry fees for individual contests.

The DFS operator applied for the license in November 2015 and have targeted an August launch. However, the application on the UK Gambling Commission’s (UKGC) website still reads as ‘pending’. The UKGC were not able to provide any more information other than what is publicly stated.

If the license goes through, FanDuel’s UK product is expected to be different from DraftKings, which launched in February this year. DraftKings offers contests on US sports including baseball, basketball and NASCAR, whereas FanDuel is likely to be Football-only and focused solely on the Premier League.

Eccles said that this approach is based on feedback from consumers, who want “a product in their currency, in their language, and which was clearly native to the UK.” They are expected to look at other markets once they have evaluated the performance in the UK with the Premier League.

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