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US: FanDuel/DraftKings merger makes a test case for Trump Antitrust Policy says Forbes

By  |  November 17, 2016
US: FanDuel/DraftKings merger makes a test case for Trump Antitrust Policy says Forbes

Just days after the election of casino magnate Donald Trump as the next president of the United States, online gaming companies FanDuel and DraftKings announced a proposed merger that risks to substantially lessen competition in the market for daily fantasy sports contests.

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    The proposed merger seeks to join America’s two largest daily fantasy sports companies into a single entity with nearly 100 percent market share for daily fantasy sports gaming.

    Although Yahoo! has recently emerged as the No. 3 player in the daily fantasy sports marketplace, neither Yahoo! nor any other DFS company has nearly the customer base nor relationships with the US professional sports leagues as the big two.

    Under historic antitrust policy, any attempted merger between an industry’s dominant No. 1 and No. 2 players would face substantial regulatory challenges under the Hart Scott Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976. For example, in August 2010, the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice issued new Horizontal Merger Guidelines that state the agencies’ intent is to challenge any mergers that serve to “substantially … lessen competition, or … tend to create a monopoly.”

    Full Content: Forbes

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