Well this is interesting. The friendly folk regulating casinos Nevada say fantasy sports are gambling. At least for now.

Anyone who has watched professional football this season has seen the ubiquitous advertising and promotion for pay-to-play daily fantasy sports sites such as DraftKings and FanDuel. On October 15th, 2015, the Nevada Gaming Control Board issued a notice in which they concluded that fantasy sports are gambling under state law.

The Board ordered all unlicensed fantasy sports operators to “cease and desist” immediately, and until the requisite gaming approvals are obtained, or until applicable gaming laws are changed by the Nevada Legislature. So, we wait for them to catch up, apparently.

UPDATES: In 2018, a study at Kansas State University concluded that daily fantasy sports require a great amount of skill and are not a simple games of chance. They concluded that “unskilled participants never win… With extremely high probability, all winners have skill.”

Additionally, a more recent ruling in 2022 from New York State found a Court of Appeals ruling that fantasy sports are perfectly legal, based on evidence that playing is skill-based and therefore not subject to state gambling laws.

As of this update, the Nevada Gaming Control Board still states that fantasy sports are gambling. USFantasy is the only company to have applied and receive a license to operate a fantasy games in the state.