NEWS
2 September 2016
DraftKings is in the money again with new funding
By David Cook
tKings has reportedly secured over $150m in funding from investment firm Revolution Growth.

While the investment was officially announced by Revolution, it did not confirm a value of the investment, but Fortune reported that the total is $153m.

It has also been reported that the investment values DraftKings at a substantially lower market cap than the approximate $2bn worth the daily fantasy sports (DFS) operator held when it received $300m in Series D financing in July 2015.

That was a round led by Fox Sports and included the MLB, NHL and MLS, but the funding was claimed to be on hold by David Shapton, a partner of capital markets adviser Akur Capital, in November, due to the regulatory uncertainty regarding the DFS industry.

Twenty-First Century Fox reported in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in February it had written off $95m of its approximate $160m investment.

The latest investment is another sign of association between the DFS industry and North American sports, as Revolution co-founder Ted Leonsis is the majority owner of Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns and operates Washington sports teams including the Capitals from the NHL and the Wizards from the NBA.

Revolution partner Steve Murray said: “Online fantasy sports are just one of the many ways technology has disrupted the sports industry in recent years. Building a business is never easy, especially one that is leading the creation of a new marketplace, but Revolution has the expertise to help entrepreneurs execute on their ideas, especially where sports and policy intersect.”

Revolution has invested in the sports industry before, as it contributed $44m to Sportradar last October.