DraftKings will be getting a new toy to play with.
Sports IQ Analytics CEO Omer Dor announced on his LinkedIn that his company has been acquired by DraftKings. This is the second major acquisition by the Boston-based sports betting operator in 2024.
Dor didn’t specify any financial terms or suggest anything other than how he’s “excited for this next chapter” to “join a team whose desire for winning and being the best matches our own.”
Sports IQ is currently based in Vancouver. Four words are bolded on its website: we are odds makers.
The company uses advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to build proprietary odds for the U.S. sports betting industry. It claims to have a first-of-its-kind handicapping methodology and a technology that caters to U.S. bettors’ love for live betting markets.
Dor co-founded Sports IQ alongside Matthew Belzberg, Jose Alfaro, and Andrew Schwartz, all of whom he mentioned gratitude for in his LinkedIn post.
Staying competitive
In February, DraftKings announced that it was getting into the lottery business with its acquisition of Jackpocket in a deal worth approximately $750 million in cash and stock.
Jackpocket’s app is in 17 states, plus Puerto Rico, which could help DraftKings connect with some users in states without legal sports betting like Texas. DraftKings said in its Q1 2024 earnings release that it expects to launch its mobile sportsbook in Puerto Rico, but hasn’t announced a launch timeline yet.
DraftKings is a top dog in the legal sports betting industry, but it will have to continue to claw for every inch of its market share with an ever-growing, increasingly competitive marketplace.
FanDuel holds the most market share in the U.S. legal sports betting market, and is looking to further bolster its leading position after its parent company Flutter listed on the New York Stock Exchange earlier this year.
In mid-2023, BetMGM co-owner Entain acquired sports data analytics firm Angstrom Sports in a deal that made Entain the only global gambling operator with a full in-house suite of end-to-end analytics and pricing capabilities for online betting sites in the U.S.
Relative newcomer to the marketplace Fanatics just launched in its 20th state this week, formally entering the prolific New Jersey sports betting market on the heels of wrapping up its acquisition of PointsBet’s U.S. licenses.
