DraftKings/FanDuel Litigation

In November 2016, DraftKings and FanDuel, the two principal purveyors of daily fantasy sports (DFS) announced plans to merge. The FTC retained Mark Israel as an expert in its investigation of the merger and, ultimately, as a testifying expert in its effort to enjoin the merger.

A Compass Lexecon team supported Dr. Israel in his work, developing economic analyses demonstrating qualitatively and quantitatively that: (i) DFS was a well-defined product market within which DraftKings and FanDuel combined for the vast majority of sales, (ii) DraftKings and FanDuel were far and away each other’s closest substitute, and thus (iii) the proposed merger likely would harm consumers. After a month’s-long investigation that culminated in an FTC Complaint, the parties abandoned the proposed transaction.

Dr. Israel’s Washington, DC-based support team was led by Theresa Sullivan and Loren Smith, and included Ben Wagner, Chris Rybak, Gloriana Alvarez, Mihir Narain, Kelly Dickson and Eric Yde. Compass Lexecon worked closely with a team of FTC lawyers and economists that included Mark Seidman, Stelios Xenakis, Elizabeth Schneirov and Jason O’Connor.