Paddy Power Betfair in talks to buy Fanduel

Paddy Power Betfair is in talks to acquire FanDuel a fantasy sports site, in order to capitalise on the lifting of a federal ban on sports betting across the US.

The UK and Ireland based FTSE100 gambling group said with New Jersey among those expected to enact legislation within weeks the US gambling market could be worth $10bn in net revenues to gambling operators, which excluded money given back to punters in prizes.

Paddy Power Betfair operates an online casino in New Jersey and last year paid $48m to buy DRAFT, a US daily fantasy sports site.

The web-based fantasy sports game company FanDuel, with over 6 million registered users is the second largest daily fantasy sports company in the industry. CEO Nigel Eccles founded the company with Tom Griffiths and Lesley Eccles in July 2009.