Ten years ago, sports leagues hated gambling. Five years ago, leagues embraced gambling Now, DraftKings and FanDuel are being sued by one of the leagues players union. Strange days indeed, as John Lennon once wrote. So what’s the issue? As is the case so many times it all boils down to money. Not so peculiar, mama. Major League Baseball’s players union filed a lawsuit in federal and state courts, accusing both DraftKings and FanDuel of using images of nearly all active MLB players on their websites and mobile apps without obtaining permission. The players are seeking both compensatory and punitive…

The battle for the biggest fantasy sports provider in America has a new king. DraftKings has officially surpassed their rivals at FanDuel to take over the top position, and it’s in large part to their acquisition by the Golden Nugget in 2023. Since that purchase, DraftKings has experienced a steady growth. DraftKings now possesses a 31% share of the American online gambling revenue, besting FanDuel by a single point, as they sit at 30%. However, if we adjust those numbers to exclude online casino games and just focus on just sports betting, DraftKings lead jumps to nearly 40% compared to…

When sports betting in New York was passed with a 51% tax rate, we knew it would lead to problems. Now, both DraftKings and FanDuel New York are saying they could abandon the market if that tax rate isn’t lowered to something more realistic. The CEO of DraftKings, Jason Robins, described the situation as “unsustainable” while speaking at a recent joint legislative hearing. He pointed out that while the tax rate is already the highest in the nation, it’s even worse than it appears since fees and licensing make the state’s effective tax more than 70%. The President of FanDuel,…

Sports betting has only been up and running in the state since January 1st, but already we’ve seen huge fines for DraftKings and Barstool Sports in Ohio. All together, the Ohio Casino Control Commission has collected $900,000 in fines just this year for a variety of violations. First, the fines for DraftKings stem from a direct mail campaign in the state which ended up being sent to some young adults under the legal gambling age. It seems that some of those on the list were not yet 21 years old. There were also violations for not including a problem gambling…

A Court of Appeals has ruled that New York fantasy sports are perfectly legal. This coming as the court found sufficient evidence that playing fantasy sports is skill-based and therefore not subject to state gambling laws. The case had been winding its way through the system since 2016 an anti-gambling group asserted that New York fantasy sports were unconstitutional and violated gaming laws. Two lower court decisions agreed with that belief. However, the appeals court arrived at a different conclusion all together. They found that fantasy sports are not based on chance, nor are they betting on sports events. Instead,…

It’s difficult to believe that the CEO of a major sports betting operator would say something to alienate his existing and potential customers. Yet, that’s exactly what Jason Robins did while speaking on the Canaccord Genuity 2021 Digital Gaming Summit held virtually last week. His statements came amidst conversations concerning how operators could be profitable in New York state with a 51% tax rate, so I guess now we know how DraftKings hopes to make money in that market! Hello my friends! And welcome to This Week in Gambling, where we’re following an interesting bit of news. The CEO of…