Daily Fantasy Sports Legislation Proposed In NevadaLeading DFS Sites Push Bill In The Silver State |
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The Nevada Gaming Policy Committee said this week that leading DFS sites DraftKings and FanDuel have proposed a draft piece of legislation that would regulate the games in the Silver State.
The bill, which calls for consumer protections and a $10,000 licensing fee for DFS operators, hasn’t yet been introduced in the the Nevada legislature, which doesn’t reconvene until next year.
In October, Nevada gaming regulators ruled that the single-day fantasy sports contests are gambling under state law, even though the DFS industry has a carve-out under federal law pertaining to online betting. In other words, the sites needed sports betting licenses to continue.
Unlike their decisions in other states, both DraftKings and FanDuel quickly pulled out of the Nevada market. Since then, the number of states to pass legislation to legalize and regulate DFS has grown to eight. New York, which had also previously declared the games illegal under state law, was the most recent. The Empire State was considering legalizing online poker first, however.
The industry has opted to go the route of creating new laws for the games, but the price of lobbying has fueled speculation that DraftKings and FanDuel could merge.
Other states that have approved DFS legislation include Virginia, Colorado, Missouri, Indiana, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Mississippi.
In June, Nevada regulators, for the first time ever, signed off on a DFS product from local businessman Vic Salerno, whose DFS company is called US Fantasy.
The DFS market could balloon to $14 billion by 2020, if an estimated 40-percent annual growth is the trend, according to research last year from Eilers Research.
Other DFS companies that could apply for involvement in Nevada include Yahoo! and PokerStars’ parent company Amaya Gaming, but DraftKings and FanDuel control the vast majority of the market.
While traditional Nevada sports betting is at record levels, Las Vegas is soon set to get a NHL expansion team, and the NFL is considering letting the Raiders move to Sin City. The major professional sports leagues are investors in the DFS industry.
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