DraftKings and FanDuel, the nation’s two largest sportsbook providers, will not operate in Nevada anytime soon after state gambling regulators on Wednesday accepted the surrender of FanDuel’s parent company’s licensing plans.
A withdrawal of all pending requests for DraftKings is also planned.
Nevada Gaming Control Chairman Mike Dreitzer said in an industry release Wednesday that it is clear that “Flutter Entertainment/FanDuel and DraftKings intend to engage in illegal activities related to sporting event contracts.”
Flutter, FanDuel’s parent company, was on track to be licensed in the state, but at last week’s board meeting, its suitability hearings were removed from the agenda.
Flutter’s abandonment stems from the ongoing legal battle between federally regulated prediction markets and states that offer traditional sports betting over whether prediction markets can take sports bets.
Prediction markets regularly take yes-or-no guesses on current events and last year switched to taking predictions on the outcome of sporting events, which government regulators have interpreted as sports betting.
Wednesday’s regulatory action was triggered by Flutter’s formal announcement of a partnership with Chicago-based CME Group to launch a FanDuel Predicts app next month.
“This behavior is inconsistent with their ability to participate in Nevada’s gaming industry,” Dreitzer said in his industry release.
“The board is considering offering sporting event contracts as a betting activity under NRS 463.0193 and 463.01962,” Dreitzer said. “Betting takes place regardless of whether the contract is listed on an exchange regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission or elsewhere.”
This is a development story. Check back for updates.
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