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Emails to the Wyoming Gaming Fee from a lobbyist linked to market-leading sportsbooks suggests a concerted effort to oust DFS rivals. [Image: Shutterstock.com]
Influenced regulators
David Picard, a lobbyist linked to the Sports activities Betting Alliance that features FanDuel, DraftKings, appears to have influenced Wyoming regulators into ordering day by day fantasy sports activities (DFS) manufacturers together with Underdog Fantasy and PrizePicks to stop and desist working within the state in July.
Unlawful OSW in Wyoming”
Authorized Sports activities Report cites emails between Picard and Wyoming Gaming Fee (WGC) Government Director Charles Moore, the primary in February entitled “Unlawful OSW in Wyoming.”
Within the electronic mail, Picard listed Underdog and PrizePicks together with their mailing addresses as breaking state legal guidelines for providing “the precise proposition parlay bets obtainable on Wyoming’s licensed, regulated sportsbooks like FanDuel and DraftKings.”
Picard accused the likes of Underdog of providing participant prop parlay betting below the guise of DFS contests and that “what they provide is indistinguishable from sports activities wagering.”
WGC pressured?
5 months after the February electronic mail, the WGC ordered Underdog and PrizePicks to stop and desist. The signal of Picard’s affect on the DFS struggle in Wyoming, nonetheless, comes from emails LSR cites Moore sent the lobbyist in March and April.
we’re near having this ironed out and the letter able to ship”
Within the first, Moore thanks the veteran political strategist for his persistence in ready for the WGC’s letters to Underdog and PrizePicks, stating the ultimate draft was coming quickly. On April 21, an apologetic Moore emailed Picard stating: “Dave, Simply an FYI we’re near having this ironed out and the letter able to ship […] Sorry for the delay.”
Picard was a direct consultant of FanDuel and DraftKings from 2018 till 2022, when he switched affiliation to the Sports activities Betting Alliance.
LSR cites additional proof from a July 6 electronic mail Moore despatched Picard, through which the WGC government included copies of the cease-and-desist orders despatched to Underdog and PrizePicks a day earlier than.
CEO of Underdog Jeremy Levine lately acknowledged the lobbying actions of the US’s large two sportsbooks are “an open secret.”
Eight states since July
The feedback of FanDuel’s Head of State Authorities Relations Cesar Hernandez on the Nationwide Council of Legislators from Gaming States earlier this summer season did loads to ignite the US-wide struggle on DFS.
Hernandez advised the convention there have been corporations: “posing as fantasy-sports operators […] operating unlawful sportsbooks”
Whether or not it’s Hernandez spooking state regulators, Picard’s lobbying, or one thing else, it’s working. On Tuesday, Maine ordered Underdog to halt its operations, fining it $391,850 within the course of. Maine’s motion makes it eight states to ban or restrict decide‘em DFS contests since July.
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