New York during a Tuesday afternoon meeting of the state gaming commission. The vote was unanimous.
In a statement, Fanatics thanked the commission, though the operator did not give a timeline as to when exactly the sports betting app.
“Today, the New York State Gaming Commission approved Fanatics Betting and Gaming’s acquisition of PointsBet New York LLC,” read the statement. “We would like to thank the commissioners and staff of the New York State Gaming Commission for their time and effort in delivering us some great news today. We look forward to working with the staff of the New York State Gaming Commission to bring the Fanatics Sportsbook to the largest sports wagering state in the U.S.”
Fanatics first tried to break into the New York market two years ago, but nonetheless tasked with taking a close look at Fanatics.
One question the commission had during the meeting on Tuesday was whether the company would use Topps sports and entertainment cards to promote its sportsbook. The answer — though garbled in the online broadcast of the meeting — seemed to indicate that the company would not be mixing the brands.
Fanatics Sportsbook will continue to use the PointsBet tech stack.
Pick’em banned, DraftKings shamed 504w2r
The gaming commission also dropped a bomb on the daily fantasy sports industry, officially adopting rules that would ban pick’em-style fantasy contests such as those offered by Betr.
This comes on the heels of Florida sending a cease-and-desist letter to those companies concerning pick’em-style fantasy.
Additionally at Tuesday’s meeting, Brian O’Dwyer, the chair of the gaming commission, blasted “Never Forget” promo that ran briefly on 9/11.
“All of us were appalled by the promotion, and our staff issued a statement calling it reprehensible,” O’Dwyer said. “In response I had the staff write to DraftKings to ask for assurances that this type of behavior would not be repeated. Of course, good taste cannot be legislated or regulated, but I was concerned that there was not a valid filtering process in place.”
O’Dwyer said he will be meeting Friday with Matt Kalish, the president of DraftKings, to establish a “genuine dialogue to assure that this improper and disgusting advertising does not repeat itself.”
