FOX thought it had a great idea when it introduced the FOX Bet app three years ago, and to be fair, it did. The ability to access programming and insight from well-known shows and personalities in the same app where players could make bets was a real point of differentiation in the gambling market. Now though, the app is struggling.
The problems for FOX Bet start with its poor reach according to Bloomberg. Right now, bettors can only use the app in four states. Those are Colorado, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
Limitations like that have really limited the market share available to FOX Bet. It has less than 1% of the U.S. online sports betting business outside of Nevada. By comparison, Vixio Gambling Compliance puts FanDuel’s market share at 40%.
FOX has sunk a lot of money and airtime into promoting its sportsbook app, including rebranding FS1’s Lock It In as FOX Bet Live in 2019. That hasn’t been enough to find an audience or retain what it has.
Steven Ruddock, a senior analyst at Wagers.com, says FOX Bet is “operating on what can best be described as a legacy platform that hasn’t received the updates required to compete in the U.S.”
Another problem for FOX is a dispute over who exactly owns the app. Flutter Entertainment, which purchased FanDuel three years ago, acquired control of FOXBet in that purchase. While FOX has the option to acquire 50% of that business and an option to acquire 18.6% of FanDuel, the two sides have been unable to agree on a price and are headed for arbitration.
