{"id":17927,"date":"2016-03-15T09:31:01","date_gmt":"2016-03-15T17:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=17927"},"modified":"2016-03-15T09:31:01","modified_gmt":"2016-03-15T17:31:01","slug":"dfs-returns-to-nevada-dustup-near-the-stratosphere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/dfs-returns-to-nevada-dustup-near-the-stratosphere\/","title":{"rendered":"DFS returns to Nevada; Dustup near the Stratosphere"},"content":{"rendered":"

While DraftKings<\/strong> CEO Jason Robins<\/strong> and FanDuel<\/strong> CEO Nigel Eccles<\/strong> insist that their companies are just too special to apply for a Nevada<\/strong> gaming license, entrepreneurs Vic Salerno<\/strong> and Michael Knapp<\/strong> are effectively calling their bluff. They’re seeking a license for their newly formed US Fantasy<\/strong>. Rather than being run as a sports pool, as \"Draftmost DFS sites are, US Fantasy would offer parimutuel-style wagering<\/a>.\u00a0\u201cWhat we did is kind of work within the framework of the existing rules and regulations that were on the books either in Nevada or in California<\/strong>,\u201d remarked Knapp, whose experience spans Internet<\/strong> gambling to California horse tracks. He characterized his product as “a lot easier, more fun, fairer” than conventional DFS … if we can characterize such a novel product as “conventional.” Knapp himself feels that it is in a natal state and will evolve considerably over the next few years.<\/p>\n

US Fantasy’s product is designed to be compatible with both casino and online play, and comes with geofencing capabilities that would contain its action within Nevada. However, Knapp\u00a0also sees clouds on the horizon in the form of state taxation of DFS.\u00a0\u201cIt is going to be very tough for them to be profitable; they are going to have to raise the takeout.\u00a0That is the same sort of thing that happened to racing, and in my opinion the reason why it declined like it did,\u201d he told LegalSportsReport.com<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

DraftKings CEO Jason Robins<\/strong>‘ performance before the Nevada Gaming Policy Committee<\/strong> is getting roundly panned<\/a> in some quarters. Robins got rather shirty with the idea that his product is gambling (Who is he kidding?) as well as the idea that Nevada laws were appropriate to regulate it.\u00a0\u201cWe don\u2019t feel that the type of regulation that we\u2019re being asked to administer is appropriate for our industry.\u00a0But the exact form of regulation that has been\u00a0proposed, we don\u2019t think is appropriate for the fantasy sports industry, given that it is a new technology, and something different than what was contemplated when those laws and regulations were written,\u201d he blustered.<\/p>\n

Nevada Gaming Commission<\/strong> Chairman Tony Alamo<\/strong> was enthusiastic about DFS, at least in principle:\u00a0\u201cI do want to set a tone here, that daily fantasy sports is good. It\u2019s a fabulous thing.\u00a0It creates excitement for a sport. It puts people in the stands \u2026. it creates increased viewership. It excites the sports, so people walk into our\u00a0sports and race books and,\u00a0directly\u00a0or indirectly, will put money down. It creates handle, increases profits, increases\u00a0gross gaming revenue for the state, and taxes.\u201d That being said, he wasn’t a pushover for Robins and Eccles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Sandoval\"Alamo wasn’t buying the latter’s contention that “heavy-handed” Nevada regulation would reduce the playing field to two companies. (Guess who?)\u00a0\u201cThere are a lot of people, smaller than you, with less money and less financial means, that go through the process of licensure,\u201d Alamo replied. And when Robins claimed Nevada’s licensing procedure was “onerous,” Alamo called his bluff and asked whether DraftKings had started applying. Robins admitted it hadn’t. Silver State Gov. Brian Sandoval<\/strong> (R, left<\/em>) basically told DFS operators they’d have to live with the current regulatory framework for at least another year, until the Lege can vote on adjustments to current laws. In other words, get cracking on those applications, boys.<\/p>\n

* Although legalized Internet gambling has failed to be a windfall for tax coffers in the United States<\/strong>, lawmakers in Brazil<\/strong> believe they can reap as much as $4 billion<\/a> a year if they legitimize it. While the legislation is far from being finalized, it appears that Internet casinos can look forward to a much higher tax rate than terrestrial ones: 20%. After all, you don’t have to build a big building with lots of bells and whistles to run an Internet casino.<\/p>\n

* Las Vegans don’t get up in arms much about the constant change of Sin City. However, when Vickie’s Diner<\/strong> (in the former White Cross Drugs<\/strong>, near the Stratosphere<\/strong>) removed a particularly kitschy painting of Clint Eastwood<\/strong> as The Outlaw Josey Wales<\/em> as part of a reality-show makeover … well, that was one change too many<\/a>. It’s a cause celebre<\/em> that would be surprising in any city but this one.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While DraftKings CEO Jason Robins and FanDuel CEO Nigel Eccles insist that their companies are just too special to apply for a Nevada gaming license, entrepreneurs Vic Salerno and Michael Knapp are effectively calling their bluff. They’re seeking a license … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22,37,207,25,9,17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17927"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17927"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17927\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17928,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17927\/revisions\/17928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}