Rather than sit on the daily fantasy sports sidelines, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R, below) wants to nudge the Silver State into the game. To that end, he’s the keynote speaker for a 
specially convened, all-star hearing by the Nevada Gaming Policy Committee. Among those weighing in will be DraftKings CEO Jason Robins and FanDuel CEO Nigel Eccles, as well as William Hill US CEO Joe Asher. Others on the agenda include Narus Advisors consultant Chris Grove and Director of UNLV’s Center for Gaming Research David Schwartz. Central among the speakers will be American Gaming Association President Geoff Freeman, who previewed his speech in the pages of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Calling DFS “a compelling upstart business caught in a legal gray area between state and federal laws,” Freeman writes that, by calling for DFS operators to obtain gaming licenses, “Nevada provided legal clarity and a roadmap for daily fantasy sports’ continued success.” Pointing to the NFL‘s hypocritical embrace of DFS and disdain of sports betting, Freeman predicts a coming, similar crisis around the growing phenomenon of E-sports. Regulation, Freeman urges, should enable innovation, be flexible and be ahead of the curve technologically.
“Over the past year, gaming regulators across the country have warned casinos to steer clear of DFS, lest we risk our multibillion dollar privileged licenses. Yet how are gaming companies supposed to stay ahead of the curve of consumer demand — which DraftKings and FanDuel have clearly tapped into — by sitting on the sidelines,” asks Freeman. Perhaps, by the end of the day, we will have an answer.
DFS, in the meantime, took a lump in Georgia, whose legislature failed to enact on a bill legalizing the activity. FanDuel is in retreat in Texas but DraftKings is standing firm.
* “Nothing’s dead until the handkerchief drops but I would be very, very surprised if we saw any action on this issue this session,” said state Sen. Robert Bradley (R, below), after bills 
to ratify the Seminole compact and to expand slot machines in Florida were tabled in the Senate Appropriations Committee. The state House also declined to act on the Seminole compact last week, effectively killing it for the session. Gov. Rick Scott (R) went to bat for the Seminoles, saying they might have to lay off 3,700 employees if the compact is not passed. He also seems to have decided to switch rather than fight the tribe’s continued operation of blackjack, accepting the revenue-sharing money that the tribe continues to pay and putting it in escrow.
The House Finance & Tax Committee took with one hand, permitting slots at tracks in Palm Beach, Brevard, Gadsden, Lee and Washington counties, which is irreconcilable with the compact, but gave with the other, forbidding slots within 100 miles 
of Tampa‘s Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Committee Chairman Rep. Matt Gaetz (R, left) called it an elegant solution, adding, “Nobody gets anything if there is not mutual accord and consent and agreement. I imagine that you would very likely see a negotiation between the tribe and the parimutuel facilities that benefit under the bill. And, if there is an inequity that inequity can be cured by contract.”
Both houses were in agreement to decouple live racing from racino licenses, which would probably spell the end of greyhound racing in Florida, which would hardly be a tragic occurrence. Isle Casino Racing Pompano Park would also probably stop running the ponies. Legalization of DFS was also woven into the two bills and now looks dubious. When the House was done with the compact, it had swollen to a 122-page, amendment-laden document. Said Bradley, “If you add too many ornaments to a tree the ornaments become so heavy the tree falls over.”
* Casino legalization in Japan is said to be on the back burner until as late as 2019. What did I tell you? Ho hum.
