Nevada gives its first license to a daily fantasy sports game
USFantasy will operate via casinos, and work more like horse racing than other fantasy sports games.
Nevada's gaming board shut down daily fantasy games from DraftKings and FanDuel late last year for fairly obvious reasons: they're gambling, and they need a license to operate in the state. Now for the first time, the board has issued a license to a daily fantasy operator called USFantasy. Unsurprisingly, the Vegas-approved fantasy game is planning to operate through the race and sports books of casinos, and won't look much like other daily fantasy sports games.
Instead of a "salary cap" limited team, the games players choose athletes at a particular position and bet where they'll rank at the position. Called a pari-mutuel system, it's a lot more like horse racing than fantasy sports. In an interview with ESPN, president Vic Salerno said that for players "it feels like 80 to 90 percent will get some money back." That's different from current daily fantasy games, where much of the winnings go to a relatively small group of elite players.
The company claims it's the first DFS license granted by any regulatory body in the US, and the big question is if others will follow. USFantasy appears to embrace its status as a form of gambling, and a game that's not exactly the same as what we've seen before. On the other hand, the existing crop of games that have spun out from older rotisserie-style fantasy leagues insist they are games of skill, and won't be so accepting of tight regulation.
