At least one well-known DFS site will exit Florida in the coming weeks, as the Florida Gaming Control Commission sent Underdog Sports letters on Jan. 31 requiring each operator to leave the state within 30 days to avoid potential legal consequences.
The FGCC previously sent the three sports betting rather than a legal fantasy contest.
Underdog Sports told Sports Handle that it plans to exit the state by March 1. Sports Handle also reached out to Betr and PrizePicks for comment, but hadn’t heard back by the time of publication.
Florida’s betting market 2dg65
Leaving Florida, the third-most populous U.S. state, is a significant blow to each company. Legal digital sports betting app in the state in late 2023.
With just one online sports betting operator in the Sunshine State, there’s significant room for fantasy sports games to attract customers. It’s unclear why similar fantasy games offered by FanDuel haven’t received similar regulatory scrutiny in the state.
We received a letter from the Florida Gaming Commission alleging that our contests violate FL law. They are saying that all paid fantasy violates FL law in their view, including our season-long, daily drafts, and Pick’em games. Here’s the correspondence. pic.twitter.com/KwK37QQy92
— Jeremy Levine (@JerLevine) September 22, 2023
Betr, PrizePicks, and Underdog are still available in numerous other states, including Texas, the two most-populous U.S. states. Neither of those states currently allow for legal sports betting.
Arkansas cease-and-desist letters 5dyj
Florida isn’t the only state taking aim at DFS operators.
The Arkansas Department of Finance and istration sent cease-and-desist letters to Underdog Sports and PrizePicks on Thursday, requesting the two DFS sites stop offering “unlicensed sports betting” in the state.
“Back in the day, places that tolerated illegal gambling were referred to as ‘wide open,’” DFA Regulatory Trent Minner said in a press release. “The Internet is today’s equivalent of a ‘wide open town’ where unlicensed gambling thrives outside of the taxation and age-verification requirements required by the law. As the state’s regulator of licensed sports betting, DFA is putting these companies on notice that Arkansas is not ‘wide open.’”
One of the concerns cited by the DFA was that the games are available to s under 21.
“Arkansas law requires sports bets to be placed with a licensed sportsbook that is required to the age of the consumer. The state has an interest in protecting Arkansas children from operators seeking to exploit underage Arkansans,” said DFA Secretary Jim Hudson.
Arkansas allows for legal sports betting apps, but its market doesn’t feature industry giants like DraftKings and FanDuel. Without a national name brand in the market, Arkansas sports bettors.
Underdog Sports and PrizePicks both have national name recognition in a growing industry. New research conducted by the Angus Reid Group for the Fantasy Sports and Gaming Association found that 21% of Americans played fantasy sports in the last 12 months, an all-time high since tracking began in 2007. Underdog Sports also plans to launch a sportsbook next month, which is expected to go live when digital sports betting in North Carolina begins on March 11.
The DFA’s letters suggest it has no issue with either fantasy operator offering daily fantasy games in the state, but it does question whether their pick’em games are truly a fantasy offering.
Jeff Edelstein contributed to this report.
