DraftKings, the Boston-based fantasy sports and betting platform, will be traded on the Nasdaq starting Friday under the ticker symbol DKNG, the company said upon the completion of a three-firm deal agreed to late last year.
Diamond Eagle Acquisition Corp. is combining DraftKings and SBTech, a sports betting and online gaming tech company, to create "the only vertically-integrated pure-play sports betting and online gaming company" in the United States, the company said in its announcement.
With 2,300 employees around the world, DraftKings said it plans to maintain its global headquarters in Boston. The new, public company's launch comes at a time when betting opportunities are nearly non-existent. The cancellation of the major U.S. professional leagues and college sports has left a dearth of contest wagering options.
On Friday, the featured betting opportunities on the DraftKings mobile sportsbook app were NFL draft-related bets, soccer games in Belarus and table tennis matches in Moscow.
"Today marks another milestone for DraftKings and the future of digital sports entertainment and gaming in America," co-founder and CEO Jason Robins said. "By bringing together our leading consumer brand, data science expertise and industry-leading products with SBTech's proven technology platform, we will accelerate our innovation, growth and scale. I am confident that the new DraftKings will progress our goal of offering the best, most innovative sports and gaming products to our customers."
When the deal was announced in December, Robins told CNBC that the combined company expected about $540 million in revenue in 2020, and the initial announcement valued the new company at $3.3 billion.