Las Vegas-based Scientific Games expands partnership with U.K.-based bookmaking firm

Scientific Games announced Tuesday that it is partnering with FanDuel.

The extent of that partnership, however, is unclear.

A statement from the Las Vegas-based company revealed it would be expanding its existing partnership with Flutter Entertainment, a London-based bookmaking holding company. The deal gives Scientific Games the ability to cover online and mobile sports betting and iGaming content with FanDuel, a New York-based daily fantasy provider owned by Flutter.

Representatives from Scientific Games did not respond to requests for additional information on the expanded partnership, and FanDuel spokeswoman Emily Bass declined to comment. Representatives from Flutter Entertainment did not respond to requests for comment.

“We don’t know, at this point, every point of this deal. We don’t know how encompassing it is,” said SunTrust Robinson Humphrey gaming analyst Barry Jonas.

‘Unclear’ on the details

OpenBet, Scientific Games’ sports betting division, has been working with Flutter’s proprietary sports platform for over a decade in Europe, according to the statement.

While the deal expands that partnership to the U.S. market, it appears as though FanDuel has no plans to leave its current U.S. partners.

A spokesperson for Las Vegas-based International Game Technology said the gaming equipment manufacturer will maintain its sports betting partnerships with FanDuel in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Indiana and West Virginia.

“We look forward to working with FanDuel on the sports betting opportunities of today and the future,” spokesman Phil O’Shaughnessy said.

Brendan Bussmann, a partner at Global Market Advisors, likened Scientific Games’ expanded deal to Penn National Gaming’s sports betting partnerships. The Pennsylvania-based operator has announced sports betting deals with several companies across different markets last year, including DraftKings in seven states, PointsBet in five states, theScore in 11 states and The Stars Group in nine states.

“This goes to show how the U.S. sports betting market is being set up. It’s not one size fits all,” Bussmann said. “Operators want to make sure they have the right fit for the right market.”

Investor concerns

Jonas said the announcement helped ease some investors’ concerns about the company, which will probably lose its partnership with a major operator later this year.

Scientific Games has a sports betting deal with Caesars Entertainment Corp., but Jonas doesn’t expect it to survive Eldorado Resorts’ impending $17.3 billion acquisition of Caesars, which is expected to close in the first half of this year.

He said William Hill, which has a nationwide sports betting partnership with Eldorado, is more likely to survive, especially because Eldorado owns 20 percent of William Hill U.S.

“There had been some investor concerns, some questions as to (Scientific Games’) ability to grow market share given so many of the large operators have already aligned themselves with different platforms,” Jonas said. “This (FanDuel announcement) renews a lot of investor interest to a segment they had somewhat forgotten about.”

Scientific Games’ shares closed down 1.8 percent to $26.40 Tuesday. Flutter Entertainment shares closed down 0.1 percent to $56.70.

Contact Bailey Schulz at bschulz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0233. Follow @bailey_schulz on Twitter.