Here’s a quick look back at what happened this past week, and what to watch for in the coming week in the world of the daily fantasy sports industry:
What happened this week in DFS
About that Congressional hearing…: The much-anticipated Congressional hearing about DFS and sports betting was a bit of a dud. Most of the major stakeholders — like DraftKings, FanDuel and the professional sports leagues — weren’t there.
The top-level takeaways are that lawmakers have a lot to learn about about the DFS industry, and that Congress isn’t likely to act on either the DFS or sports betting fronts any time soon.
Three out of four ain’t bad: The DFS industry had a pretty good week legislatively, for the most part:
- Mississippi enacted a DFS regulatory law, reversing a negative attorney general opinion.
- Legislatures moved bills to the governor in both Colorado and Missouri.
- The only setback came in Minnesota, where the Senate shelved a bill.
In Missouri, operators other than DraftKings and FanDuel generally oppose the bill because of the tax structure.
What to watch for in DFS
What’s happening in Illinois and New York?: The legal progress for the DFS industry has largely been positive of late. But two big states still loom as wild cards — Illinois and New York, where the industry is fighting a pair of negative attorney general opinions.
In Illinois, a bill passing by the May 31st legislative adjournment is starting to look like a longshot, unless some momentum is generated in a hurry. In New York, the industry is counting on a bill getting passed, but there has been no public movement in months. A new bill from Rep. Gary Pretlow could surface this week.
What happens in those two states is likely to have a major impact on the industry for the remainder of 2016.
Summer is coming: Last year saw DraftKings make in-roads into FanDuel’s marketshare lead because of markets that the latter avoided — like golf, mixed martial arts and NASCAR.
Once again, FanDuel appears to be set to make it through the summer with just Major League Baseball contests. Is that going to be the status quo again this year?
