DraftKings/FanDuel merger called off

BOSTON — The two leading daily fantasy sports companies DraftKings and FanDuel have scrapped their proposed merger about a month after federal regulators sued to block it.

The two companies said Thursday they were moving forward separately in the best interests of their customers, employees, and investors. Neither directly addressed the federal government’s concerns with the deal.

FanDuel CEO Nigel Eccles said in his statement that his company still believes the deal would have increased investment and product development, benefiting consumers and the broader industry.

But DraftKings CEO Jason Robins in a separate statement touted his company’s rapid growth, a possible signal that the once-bitter rivalry between the two companies has resumed.

“We have a growing customer base of nearly 8 million, our revenue is growing over 30 percent year-over-year, and we are only just beginning to take our product overseas,” he said.

The Federal Trade Commission — along with the attorneys general of California and the District of Columbia — opposed the merger last month because they said it would create a company controlling more than 90 percent of the U.S. market for paid daily fantasy sports.

An FTC spokeswoman didn’t immediately comment Thursday. The companies and the FTC agreed late last month to temporarily halt the merger, pending an administrative trial scheduled for Nov. 21.

The online contests challenge players to build rosters of real-life athletes in order to vie for cash and other prizes based on how those athletes do in actual games. The games grew in large part from a 2006 federal law that banned online gambling but created a specific niche for fantasy sports.