(FanDuel does not offer golf contests.)ĭraftKings and FanDuel both sent somber statements late Thursday night about the ruling. (For a longer explainer on the legality of these companies, see: Are DraftKings and FanDuel totally legal?)Īt least one law professor, Marc Edelman of Baruch College, has told Fortune that he believes some of the single-day PGA Tour golf contests that DraftKings offers are in fact already illegal, because federal law appears to require that a fantasy sports contest contain multiple contests. The difference between the first five on that list and the last one is that only Nevada has expressly labeled them gambling the other five states did not make them illegal, but rather, the companies choose not to offer service there because the law is clearly unfriendly. They operate everywhere except Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Washington, and now Nevada. The companies are allowed to apply for such a license immediately.įor now, DraftKings and FanDuel do operate in those two states. These companies cannot offer service in Nevada unless and until they obtain a gambling operator license there. In other words, that would logically extend to other daily fantasy platforms as well, like Draftpot, StarsDraft, and even Yahoo’s daily fantasy product. Nevada did not expressly ban DraftKings and FanDuel specifically-rather, the state has ruled that daily fantasy sports companies are gambling operators, and need to obtain gambling licenses to continue doing business there.

Nevada’s decision means that Nevada, for one, does believe it is gambling, and not a “game of skill,” the definition that allows DraftKings and FanDuel to operate in 45 states (now 44). (Read a full timeline of the scandal here.) Since then, the two companies, which together enjoy 95% market share of the daily-fantasy industry, have come under the harsh light of regulatory scrutiny, with investigations launched by the New York State Attorney General and the FBI.ĭid DraftKings and FanDuel fly too close to the sun? The decision out of Nevada could be a tipping point in the question over whether these companies-which pay out millions of dollars to users who select a roster of athletes-constitute gambling. Yes, that covers DraftKings and FanDuel, the two red-hot tech startups that have been all over the news since September-at first for their aggressive advertising blitz, then for their involvement in a scandal over insider play.Įarlier this month, the New York Timesreported that a DraftKings employee won $350,000 playing in a FanDuel contest.

How to play draftkings in nevada