Flutter Entertainment and Fox Corporation have confirmed the immediate closure of the FOX Bet sports betting platform for commercial reasons.
The FOX Bet joint venture was launched amid much funfair in September 2019 by FOX and The Stars Group (prior to its acquisition by Flutter) to replace the BetStars brand.
The sports betting brand first went live in New Jersey using the same technology as BetStars, utilising unique FOX Sports content with a similar concept of migrating the successful Sky Bet model to the United States.
Despite being rolled out to players in a further three US states – Colorado, Michigan and Pennsylvania – the two companies have now decided to shut down FOX Bet’s operations and will no longer be accepting bets after today (31 July).
Players will be able to access their FOX Bet accounts until 31 August. After that date, players will only be able to access their account information through the PokerStars or PokerStars Casino app.
FOX will retain future use of the FOX and FOX Bet brands, including FOX Bet Super 6, and intends to launch a new FOX Super 6 game later this summer.
FOX continues to hold an option to acquire 18.6 per cent of FanDuel, and in addition holds a 2.5 per cent stake in Flutter.
Shares in Flutter Entertainment plc (LSE:FLTR) were trading at 15,405.00 pence per share in London Monday, while shares in Fox Corporation (NASDAQ:FOX) closed at $31.12 in New York Friday.