Nevada gaming regulators have given their approval to USFantasy, a Henderson, Nevada-based daily fantasy sports with a fairly unique business model.
If successful in Nevada, USFantasy could provide a daily fantasy sports model that’s both attractive, and fair, to players of all skill levels.
Unlike traditional daily fantasy sports operators like DraftKings and FanDuel, USFantasy operates on a pari-mutual wagering model that’s more like traditional horse race wagering. For example, players will be able to place trifecta wagers predicting which three quarterbacks will throw for the most yards that week.
USFantasy owner Vic Salerno says it’s a concept the public will love, once they understand it. In an interview with the Las Vegas Review Journal (LVRJ), Salerno explained what he meant saying:
Everybody knows quarterbacks. That pool should be huge. It’s going to be a lot of education for us with the general public. We want to keep it simple. The mobile app is going to get young people to play it and make it really easy.
Unfortunately for Salerno, that general public he’s referring to currently consists entirely of residents of the state of Nevada, America’s 36th most populous state. That makes for a very small player pool, though Salerno is convinced his model will scale into other states.
While players may make it past the learning curve, out-of-state lawmakers may have trouble with Salerno’s progressive viewpoint that daily fantasy sports are, indeed, gambling. (Though, in fairness to Salernoa, his business model is based more on casino play rather than website play.) In his interview with the LVRJ, Salerno had this to say about daily fantasy sports’ role in the gambling world:
I asked why FanDuel was legal six years ago. For the past three years, we’ve been putting this together. We want to be treated the same way horse racing is treated.
USFantasy is set to launch in August and will be available exclusively to Nevada residents.