PointsBet Hires New York Bank to Facilitate Sale of US Sports Betting Business

• PointsBet has started the process of exploring a sale of its US sports betting business
• PointsBet recently hired New York bank Moelis & Company to help facilitate the sale
• Below, learn more about what this means for the future of PointsBet and the future of the US sports betting industry as a whole

Having been unable to reach profitability due to a FanDuel/DraftKings dominated market, online sports betting company “PointsBet” has officially begun the process of selling its US sports betting business.

According to the Australian Financial Review, they recently hired New York based investment bank “Moelis & Company: to help facilitate the sale of PointsBet’s North American operations and company.

PointsBet Struggled to Find Its Footing in North America

Despite online sports betting quickly taking the United States and Canada by storm over the past few years, PointsBet struggled to really find its footing. With massive sportsbooks like DraftKings and FanDuel being most user’s first choice, PointsBet found themselves struggling to consistently turn a profit.

According to Covers.com, PointsBet reported a revenue of $120 million over the six months leading into 2023. However, this was in big part due to the company’s reducing a lot of their marketing efforts. For example, they reworked their deal with NBCUniversal to reduce ad spending. PointsBet also withdrew their sports betting license application in Massachusetts — the most recent state to launch their online sports betting campaign.

This looming sale comes just a couple months after they also explored selling their Australian operations in 2022.

Possible PointsBet Buyers

According to Covers.com, there are several possible buyers lining up to acquire PointsBet’s North American operations.

Bally’s is viewed as a very likely candidate, as they have invested a good amount of cash into sports betting over the past two years. They recently purchased Bet.Works for $125 million and Gamesys Group for $2.7 billion.

Penn Entertainment’s Barstool Sportsbook is also listed as a possible buyer. Barstool has quickly established itself as one of the top online sports betting apps and websites out there, even rivaling the likes of DraftKings and FanDuel. Penn is reportedly in the market to expand their sports betting presence in North America.

What Next for Online Sports Betting in North America?

As of April 2023, PointsBet is the seventh-largest sports betting platform in the United States. With a potential sale looming, the expectation is that the top six will only continue to grow in strength.

Previously mentioned DraftKings and FanDuel are the two biggest players, with Barstool, Caesars Sportsbook and BetMGM also in the mix. Popular betting sites Bet365 and WynnBet Sportsbook have also started to expand. Bet365 had a very successful launch in Ohio while WynnBet recently went live in Massachusetts.

Penn Entertainment’s Barstool Sportsbook making a run at PointsBet could give them a big boost in their North American growth efforts.

The number of legal states in North America is expected to keep growing as well. Massachusetts, Ohio, Kansas, and Maryland are the three most recent states to go live, with North Carolina and Kentucky likely to follow.