U.S. Sports, a Nevada daily fantasy sports startup is taking a decidedly different approach to the business than their better know peers like DraftKings and FanDuel.
Under the tutelage of Mike Knapp, the company’s Fantasy Commissioner, U.S. Sports is proudly embracing the gambling label most US-facing daily fantasy sports have shunned like the plague.
Knapp’s business model is, however, a bit different from your standard daily fantasy sports company. The U.S. Sports model is a hybrid of proposition bets (the kind that’s popular during Super Bowl week) and pari-mutuel wagering (the kind that’s found at most horse racing tracks).
U.S. Sports users will are presented with a set of propositions such as, “Which running back will run for the most yards?”. Players can select players to win, place or show, exactly as they would select horses at a traditional race track.
Each player on the board will have his own odds, which will fluctuate based on how much action they’re getting from the general public.
Knapp and his partner, sports betting industry veteran Vic Salerno, have already floated the idea in Nevada gaming circles and are ready to take a run at a coveted Nevada gaming license.
In an interview with ESPN.com, Salerno said the pieces for his plan are already in place:
It’s all been positive feedback. Literally, we could go and do this tomorrow. The laws are already written — regulations that have worked (in Nevada) for 70 years and with pari-mutuel for 60 years.
Whether the general public is as willing to embrace U.S. Sports remains to be seen. Salerno and Knapp are hoping to have their site licensed and launched by July in hopes of taking action on the 2016 NFL season.