Despite the opposition by the Federal Trade Commission, daily fantasy sports companies; DraftKings and FanDuel are going ahead with their merger decision.
FanDuel and DraftKings argued in a paper filed with the agency that the FTC’s attempt to block the deal shows the unnecessarily rigid application of antitrust laws to an industry which is trying to grow and develop.
The companies are currently fighting FTC in federal court and have asked administrative law judge to reject FTC’s argument of the anticompetitive merger. FTC last month alleged that the merger of the two giants violated the antitrust law as it would result in a monopoly for daily sports contests. It also said that the company spent millions of dollars in marketing to overtake each other.
FanDuel and DraftKing reduced their ad spending drastically in 2016. Both the companies defended themselves saying the merger will increase the efficiency and innovation which would increase consumer value proposition.