It appears Fox Sports has jumped into the world of daily fantasy sports, with a heavy donation to DraftKings.
According to Forbes, Fox Sports just doled out $300 million, for an 11% stake in the daily fantasy sports giant, raising new investments in the company to $426 million.
The new raise will increase overall third-party investment in DraftKings to $426 million. It comes on the heels of its chief rival FanDuel completing a Series E round of financing for $275 million and firmly puts numbers 1 and 2 in the daily fantasy world at a distance from other competitors in the space when it comes to raising capital and forging key corporate relationships.
FanDuel’s important investors include NBC Sports Ventures and the National Basketball Association. DraftKings’ new round of fundraising adds the National Hockey League, Major League Soccer, Madison Square Garden to a mix of previous investors that also includes Major League Baseball. According to The New York Times, Fox Sports is the lead investor in DraftKings’ $300 million raise, which will provide Fox Sports with approximately 11% in equity.
Major League Baseball decided to reinvest in DraftKings and the Kraft Group, which owns the New England Patriots, also added money in DraftKings’ latest round, per Re/code.