FanDuel cheered by Euro 2016 trial ahead of UK launch

Fantasy sports operator FanDuel today said it received 'amazing' feedback for a trial of its UK service during the Euro 2016 football championship campaign.

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates after Portugal's Euro 2016 final victory over hosts France. Picture: Jean Catuffe/Getty Images

The Edinburgh-founded firm, which has so far only made its offering available in the US and Canada, is set to break into the UK market next month, focusing on the English Premier League.

Hundreds of players signed up to test its game during the Euro 2016 “beta” trial, and director of international marketing Karol Corcoran said: “The feedback has been amazing, with users loving playing it and giving us feedback to help us prioritise features. Our team has been working hard to develop the right product for the UK market and feedback to date has really validated our approach.”

He added: “This is our first ever fantasy football product and has been created specially for football fans. We’ve got a great team in the UK who have already done a tremendous job on our US products.

“They’ve taken the best of our US learnings combined with local insight of the UK’s football scene to build an authentic product from the ground up.”

FanDuel’s UK launch comes as the firm, one of Scotland’s most lauded technology start-ups and valued at more than $1 billion, faces mounting legal challenges in the US, where a number of states have moved to clamp down on the operation, arguing that its daily competitions amount to gambling, rather than a game of skill.

Last month the company – co-founded by five entrepreneurs including chief executive Nigel Eccles – said reports that it was in merger talks with US rival DraftKings were “total speculation”.