Outgoing FanDuel CEO Matt King headed to Fanatics

Matt King, the outgoing CEO of FanDuel, has reportedly found his next landing spot.

King will join sports e-commerce giant Fanatics in a yet-to-be-determined role, according to Sportico, which cited anonymous sources familiar with King’s plans.

As FanDuel CEO, King made his mark within the gaming and entertainment space, successfully leading the company from daily fantasy sports (DFS) into sports betting after the repeal of PASPA in May 2018.

King also shepherded FanDuel through its merger with Flutter Entertainment in 2018.

Since launching in New Jersey the same year, FanDuel has expanded to 10 states and has become the number one sportsbook operator in the US by online market share.

Speculation abounds as to what King’s exact role will be with Fanatics, an online retailer of licensed sports apparel and merchandise boasting 80m customers.

But given the firm’s expansive online database — and taking into account how closely it’s aligned with the major US professional sports leagues — some type of sports betting play isn’t out of the question.

The combination of existing DFS customer data combined with an aggressive approach to partnerships with leagues and teams represented part of the driving force behind FanDuel’s rapid ascent to the top of the US online sports betting industry.

Fanatics, meanwhile, has grown into one of the behemoths of the e-commerce industry since launching in 1995.

Its valuation has particularly skyrocketed in the past year — similar to many online-first businesses during the pandemic — with CNBC noting in March that the company had doubled in value to $12.8bn, up from $6.2bn last August, following a $320m capital raise.