Page 12 - MIN VOS 16 NOV 2015
P. 12
U.S. NEWS A7
Monday 16 November 2015
Daily fantasy sports companies seek gambling approval abroad
PHILIP MARCELO then have a U.K. gaming An employee in the software development department of world.”
Associated Press license,” he said. “It’s hy- DraftKings, a daily fantasy sports company, walks past screens The expansion is a risk for
BOSTON (AP) — Top daily pocrisy.” displaying the company’s online system stats in Boston. Top the companies, which still
fantasy sports compa- Haas said DraftKings plans daily fantasy sports companies are fiercely rejecting the aren’t profitable despite
nies are fiercely rejecting to offer its familiar range idea that their rapidly-growing industry should be considered millions in investor funds.
the idea that their rapidly of NFL, NBA, Major League gambling in the United States. But FanDuel and DraftKings are Unlike in the United States,
growing industry should be Baseball and NHL contests OK with that label in the United Kingdom. They’re embracing it where sports betting is le-
considered gambling in in the U.K. but with a spe- as a step toward global expansion. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia) gal only in a handful of
the United States. cial emphasis on profes- states, daily fantasy sports
But FanDuel and DraftK- sional soccer, including the who are addicted to gam- Haas, who is based in Lon- will have to compete with
ings are OK with that la- English Premier League, bling to voluntarily block don. “We want to be the a well-established, lucra-
bel in the United Kingdom. North America’s Major themselves from contests. biggest and best daily fan- tive sports betting indus-
They’re embracing it as a League Soccer and Eu- “We’re on track,” said tasy sports operator in the try internationally, industry
step toward global expan- rope’s Champions League. watchers note.
sion. DraftKings and FanDuel And the furor at home is
U.K. gambling regula- say they support devel- already forcing a finan-
tors granted a gambling oping U.S. regulations for cial retrenchment of sorts
license to DraftKings in their industry, which grew by the companies, which
August, while FanDuel ap- out of traditional, season- may siphon energy and re-
plied earlier this month for long fantasy sports games sources from global expan-
a license as a “gambling played by millions of Amer- sion efforts, they say.
software” company. icans. They just don’t want FanDuel declined to dis-
Jeffrey Haas, chief inter- regulations as restrictive as cuss the company’s inter-
national officer for DraftK- those imposed on casino national plans, stressing its
ings, maintains there’s no gambling. U.K. application is the first
contradiction. DraftKings is Many U.S. states use a step in a lengthy review.q
simply approaching each chance versus skill argu-
jurisdiction case by case, ment to help define gam-
he said. bling. In daily fantasy
“Our product is a game of sports, players compete
skill. In order to be success- for cash prizes online by
ful, you need to apply your assembling teams of indi-
skill in order to have the vidual athletes to rack up
best lineups to go into our “fantasy” points based on
contests to win,” Haas said. how those athletes per-
“Nevertheless, our games form in real-world games.
of skill are looked at differ- New York’s attorney gener-
ently by regulators in differ- al is the latest to challenge
ent jurisdictions around the daily fantasy, declaring
world.” the contests amount to il-
But with the gambling de- legal sports betting in his
bate heating up at home, state. He ordered DraftK-
some in the fantasy sports ings and FanDuel to stop
industry say the interna- accepting in-state bets.
tional moves put the two DraftKings and FanDuel
companies in an increas- promptly asked the state
ingly untenable position. Supreme Court to nullify
“It’s pretty naive to go get the order and declare the
gambling licenses in the games legal.
U.K. and expect people to The international push for
believe you’re not gam- daily fantasy sports has
bling,” said Shergul Arshad, been in the cards long be-
founder of Mondogoal, a fore the latest scrutiny in
U.K.-based daily fantasy the United States.
sports startup focused on Haas said DraftKings will
professional soccer that have all the required gam-
would likely compete with bling protections called for
DraftKings and FanDuel. in U.K. law, including age
“You can’t come to a verification of gamblers
state that bans you and and “self-exclusion” tech-
say it’s not gambling and nology that allows those
