Media giant Fox Corporation has brokered a deal to acquire Outkick Media, a digital media platform founded by US sports journalist and media personality Clay Travis which has a partnership with Flutter brand FanDuel.
Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but Fox did reveal it plans to operate Outkick as an independent brand and leverage its content across its existing platforms.
Travis, who has led the Outkick business since its foundation, will remain involved with the platform and serve as its president.
Outkick’s business spans multiple platforms and outlets, including Travis’ sports radio show, which reaches more than 10 million monthly listeners, as well as the new Outkick podcast network, a website, video posts and social media channels.
The omni-channel platform also creates sports betting content and already has an exclusive marketing deal in place with FanDuel. Fox holds 2.5% of the shares in FanDuel’s parent company Flutter Entertainment and has an option to acquire a further 18.5% stake in July.
“As Fox further diversifies our growing digital portfolio and broadens our position in the sports wagering ecosystem, there could be no better acquisition than Outkick,” Fox Corporation executive chairman and chief executive Lachlan Murdoch said.
“Clay and his team have quickly made Outkick a content powerhouse with a very large, loyal and engaged audience. We expect the synergies presented across Fox’s existing portfolio of assets will turbocharge this exciting business.”
Clay added: “Outkick has grown out of my passion for producing bold, well-informed, and entertaining content about sports, current events and, more recently, sports wagering.
“With the power of Fox behind us, we look forward to maintaining Outkick’s unwavering commitment to that mission, as well as further accelerating the growth of our audience, and continued leadership in the sports wagering affiliate category.”
The acquisition deal comes after Fox last month filed an arbitration suit against Flutter, as the businesses disputed the purchase price of Fox’s option to acquire an 18.6% stake in the FanDuel brand.
Flutter offered Fox Bet this option when it agreed to purchase a further 37.2% stake in FanDuel from investment consortium Fastball for $4.18bn in December last year. That acquisition took Flutter’s stake in FanDuel to 95%.
The arbitration was filed before JAMS Arbitration, as per an arbitration mechanism laid out when Flutter agreed to acquire Fox Bet operator the Stars Group in 2019.
Flutter also previously announced that it is considering a spinoff and initial public offering of part of the FanDuel business, but it said that “no decision had been made”.