DraftKings is hoping to launch its UK-facing product some time in August but is still waiting to receive approval for a UK gambling license. This situation could be a problem for the daily fantasy sports giant in more ways than one.
As anyone who has been following the epic crash of the US-facing daily fantasy sports industry knows, DraftKings and FanDuel have staked their entire business’ on the idea that DFS is not gambling.
In US State after US State, both DraftKings and FanDuel have been vigorously fighting lawmakers to insure that any new DFS regulations steer clear of any association with sports betting.
In states like Illinois and Colorado they’ve found sympathetic lawmakers who are willing to workaround the gambling conundrum and allow DFS operators to operate without obtaining a gaming license.
Other states, like Nevada, aren’t budging a bit. They’re calling DFS gambling and treating DFS operators the same way they treat other bookmakers.
In short, the DFS clearly has another big problem on its hands.
So how will the companies (which are both looking at UK operations) justify this massive discrepancy? As of this writing, the gap has yet to be addressed by anyone in the daily fantasy sports industry.
Of course that doesn’t mean that no one is commenting on the matter. In an interview with CNBC, sports attorney Daniel Wallach had this to say about the company’s would-be UK gaming license:
It undercuts the DFS operators’ contention that they’re offering purely an entertainment product and not a gambling product.
That statement is as blunt as it is true. So why would DraftKings and FanDuel even bother with the UK before they get their ducks in a row on their home turf? The answer, it turns out, involves growth.