Fox does not want to operate a sports betting business independently, according to the media giant’s CFO Steven Tomsic.
Speaking at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference this week, Tomsic was questioned on Fox’s plans for sports betting and its relationship with Flutter.
Fox currently has an investment in Flutter worth $900m, Tomsic said, alongside an option to acquire an 18.6% equity interest in Flutter’s FanDuel business.
Fox has until December 2030 to exercise this option, but to do so, the firm must hold sports betting licences in the US states Flutter is live in.
Flutter and Fox pulled Fox Bet in 2023, after the venture went live in 2019.
When asked if the media firm was considering launching its own betting arm should it acquire the requisite licences, Tomsic poured cold water on the idea.
He said: “Fox Bet had whatever its issues were. And I think Fox Bet was caught up in the fact it was the younger brother to FanDuel.
“So that’s in our rearview mirror. But no, we think that we don’t necessarily want to operate a sports betting licence on our own.
“We think that we have enormous respect for what Flutter brings to the table in terms of sport betting prowess.
“And so, we’re happy, as a sports business, to bring the sports broadcasting element to it. We’re happy to be an investor in something that we see as having decades of growth ahead.”
On the future of exercising the FanDuel option, Tomsic added: “We have been believers in sports betting. We’ve seen how it’s developed in overseas markets that are native to some of the management team at Fox, and we’ve been believers since they built for it.
“Our long-term strategy is to hold that asset, and in order to hold the asset, we have to get licensed.
“Flutter operates in the mid-20s number of states, and we’re in a conversation with each one of those states about that licensing process.
“At a Fox-ownership level, the clean up of the Murdoch trust issues is super helpful. It makes that potential string of licensing requirements more simplified.”
Flutter took full ownership of FanDuel earlier this year after acquiring the 5% stake in the business that was previously held by Boyd Gaming.
The post Fox CFO insists firm not looking to run a sports betting operation first appeared on EGR Intel.
Steven Tomsic says Fox wants to obtain licences in all the states where Flutter operates as part of equity interest acqustion, but will not look to launch its own service
The post Fox CFO insists firm not looking to run a sports betting operation first appeared on EGR Intel.