Rumors are swirling surrounding interest in The Athletic. The sports media company hired LionTree to help them find a buyer, and one reported bidder is strongly denying involvement.
According to The Boardroom, Flutter Inc. CEO, Peter Jackson, denied that they are interested in purchasing The Athletic.
“Fantasy and sports betting providers, FanDuel and DraftKings, are among a number of companies that have submitted bids to buy sports news site The Athletic, according to people familiar with the situation,” Jessica Toonkel and Sahil Patel wrote in The Information piece.
That is not something that we are bidding for,” Jackson said on the Flutter Inc. earnings call. “I mean, that’s a private equity firm who’s trying to get some interest in an asset they’re selling.”
The CEO doubled down even further when asked if FanDuel alone may be interested in The Athletic.
“Rest assured, we speak on behalf of FanDuel,” Jackson said. “They are part of Flutter. None of our brands, none of us, none of the companies.”
The Athletic is mum about all of these developments which follows a pattern throughout this acquisition pursuit over the past year.
The site has been tied to buyers before, including The New York Times and Axios, but those deals fell through before the two sides could agree on a deal.
“As a general matter of policy, we do not comment on rumors about potential acquisitions or divestitures,” a Times spokesperson told TheWrap at that time, while an Athletic representative echoed similar sentiments: “The Athletic does not comment on rumors or speculation in the market.”
Plenty of reporters and financial analysts thought the move might make sense for FanDuel or DraftKings to purchase The Athletic, but the former is bowing out. It remains to be seen, whether or not DraftKings actually bid on the company or is caught up in the storm like FanDuel.