Power Conferences To DraftKings, FanDuel: Knock Off Fantasy College Football


Written By

Updated on

DFS college football

The five power conferences in college football have sent letters to DraftKings and FanDuel, asking them to discontinue daily fantasy sports based on college games, according to reports on social media.

What we know about the letter

The information trickled out over Twitter, after Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott spoke with the media at halftime of the college football game between USC and Stanford. Fox Sports writer Stewart Mandel broke the news:

Scott was speaking on behalf of his conference, along with the SEC, the Big Ten, the Big 12 and the ACC. Later, however, Scott seemed to back off on not airing ads on the Pac-12 Network:

The text of the letter is not yet published online, nor does it appear that it will be.

A spokesperson from the Southeastern Conference confirmed the content of the letter with Legal Sports Report, but said the text was not available. “I can confirm Commissioner [Greg] Sankey signed the letter referenced by Commissioner Scott along with the other commissioners,” the spokesperson said.

The letter and Scott’s statement came soon after Big 12 Conference Commissioner Bob Bowlsby referred to DFS as gambling. It’s also of note that DraftKings and FanDuel are not the only sites offering fantasy football based on college games; several second-tier sites do as well.

Legal Sports Report reached out to both FanDuel and DraftKings late Saturday night, to see if either site had an official response. Neither had an official comment, so far.

Does this mean anything?

In reality, it seems like the letters will likely not result in any changes. Scott apparently admitted as much in his comments:

If either DraftKings or FanDuel wanted to generate a little bit of good will heading into a possible Congressional hearing, they could certainly consider stopping their college fantasy contests.

But DraftKings and FanDuel have remained steadfast in saying that daily fantasy sports is not gambling — and that appears to be the main cause of concern for the conferences. That means the DFS sites are unlikely to give in to the conferences’ wishes.

Colleges seem to be in a bit of a full-court press against the industry of late, as an NCAA representative noted that athletes could risk losing a year of eligibility if they play DFS. This does not appear to be a new policy, but it’s of note that it was brought up in a public forum.

More here.