Business Down at Fantasy SPorts Sites


Monday November 9,2015 : D.F.S. SITES SLOW AS NATIONAL REGULATORY DEBATE CONTINUES
 
One exec attributes slowdown in entries to seasonal effect.
 
For the third consecutive week business at major daily fantasy sports sites has slowed as the US debate on regulating the vertical continues.
 
FanDuel, whose CEO Nigel Eccles claims the slowdown is simply a seasonal blip, reported that his business has declined by 13 percent since the DFS scandal erupted on October 11 (see previous InfoPowa reports). The popular website accepted $18.3 million across its NFL games last week, down more than a million dollars on the preceding week, and another $1.5 million down on the week before that.
 
The story was similar at DraftKings and Yahoo, where the former site took in $21.5 million, a decline of $1.2 million on the previous week, and Yahoo reported a weekly decline of $160,000 to $1 million, with entries reaching a record low at 147,000.
 
In related news, New York Assemblyman Felix Ortiz has carried through on his pledge to address the DFS problem, submitting a draft proposal to the state legislature's Committee on Racing and Wagering which suggests a straightforward fix for the regulatory issue – add fantasy sports to the list of activities which the state considers to be gambling and place the vertical under the state gaming commission's oversight.