Fantasy sports sites DraftKings and FanDuel are closing in on a merger, but there are still a number of details to be ironed out.
If DraftKings and FanDuel merge, DraftKings CEO Jason Robins would be the new CEO
FanDuel CEO Nigel Eccles would become chairman of the new company.
The most important piece of the puzzle: Deciding who would run the new joint entity.
That decision has now been made. DraftKings CEO Jason Robins will run the new DraftKings/FanDuel entity as CEO if and when a deal gets done, according to a source familiar with the discussions. FanDuel CEO Nigel Eccles would become chairman of the board. Bloomberg first reported that a potential management decision had been made.
That’s not a bad compromise. Robins will get to run things as CEO, but Eccles will still retain some influence given the CEO technically reports to the board.
This deal, which has been long rumored, has still not been announced. But solving this key management issue — both Eccles and Robins have not historically gotten along — seems to be a sign we’ll be hearing about DraftDuel or FanKings in the not-so-distant future.
A FanDuel spokesperson declined to comment. A DraftKings spokesperson sent Recode the same statement they sent on Friday.
As we have stated previously, a potential combination would be interesting to consider. However, as a matter of policy, we don’t comment on rumors or speculation, and there can be no assurances at this time that any discussion about a combination would result in an agreement or merger.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
