Bipartisan senators investigate sports betting apps for antitrust violations
A bipartisan group of senators, Mike Lee (R-UT) and Peter Welch (D-VT), is expressing concerns about potential antitrust violations related to two major sports betting applications, FanDuel and DraftKings. This inquiry comes years after a proposed merger between the companies was denied.The senators have contacted the justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission, urging them to investigate the operations of these apps to ensure compliance with antitrust laws.
Bipartisan senators investigate sports betting apps for antitrust violations
A pair of senators are “raising concerns” over potential violations of antitrust laws by two of the leading sports betting apps, years after a proposed merger by the two companies was blocked.
Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Peter Welch (D-VT) sent a letter to the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission earlier this week, asking the two agencies to examine FanDuel and DraftKings’s potential violations of the Sherman Act.
We can’t allow online gambling companies like @FanDuel & @DraftKings to violate antitrust laws, especially as more Americans grapple with the effects of this industry on our society.
Glad to join @SenPeterWelch requesting that @linakhanFTC investigate and protect consumers. pic.twitter.com/Jh6EaHjKk3
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) December 6, 2024
“We can’t allow online gambling companies like @FanDuel & @DraftKings to violate antitrust laws, especially as more Americans grapple with the effects of this industry on our society,” Lee said in a post on X.
“@SenMikeLee and I are calling on the @FTC to enforce antitrust law—which is especially important to protect consumers in an industry with a higher risk of addiction,” Welch said in his post on X about the letter.
FanDuel and DraftKings announced intentions to merge in 2016 but dropped the proposal after the FTC and the attorneys general of Washington, D.C., and California sued to block the merger in 2017. The lawsuit aimed at blocking the merger claimed it would have given the combined company more than 90% of the market share in the industry.
Lee and Welch claim that despite the withdrawn merger, the two companies have “undertaken a coordinated effort to pressure critical business partners not to do business with” new entrants into the sports betting market.
“Shortly after their failed merger, FanDuel and DraftKings expanded their dominance by leveraging their positions in fantasy sports to become online sports betting giants. FanDuel and DraftKings may be compounding these harms through anticompetitive conduct,” the letter said.
The two senators urge DOJ and FTC to examine their concerns, claiming that the two companies “should not be allowed to accomplish through collusion what was prevented through acquisition.”
The letter is the latest scrutiny the sports betting industry has received from members of Congress, with some Democrats eying guardrails on the industry as it has exploded in popularity.
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