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Bill “Dangerfield” Beatty, a stand up comedian who writes for the gaming news site CalvinAyre.com, this week brings up an interesting point: Essentially, if daily fantasy sports and online poker are really “games of skill”, how can sports betting not be?
Beatty writes:
When those in the industry describe DFS as a skill game, they aren’t kidding. Sports bettors know the skill and research it takes to successfully handicap a game or a prop. If you’re a sports bettor who hasn’t tried DFS, it’s closest comparison would be betting on player performance props with a caveat that makes it much more difficult to win. Rather than betting on a single player and only having to beat the sportsbook’s number, DFS players must choose a team of several players and then bet against of other DFS players.
Vito Conti of Gambling911.com sister site DFS911.com also notes that Beatty raises red flags similar to that of online poker operator America’s Cardroom CEO Phil Nagy last month.
Daily fantasy sports is in danger of suffering the same fate as online poker, both of which operate under the guise of “game of skill”.
It’s the “Three U’s”: Underfunded, Unregulated and Unable to Capture a Large Enough Player Pool.
“DFS Sites are just as unregulated as offshore online poker sites, but just because they’re legal, doesn’t mean they’re safe,” Americas Cardroom CEO Phil Nagy said in an interview with PokerFuse recently. He would later relay these same thoughts to Gambling911.com. “I think it’s concerning that these companies have openly admitted that they are not profitable, and yet players don’t seemed to be concerned for the safety of their funds.”
While the underfunding aspect of the “Three U’s” will likely undercut the industry’s integrity, daily fantasy sports has something online poker has never had: A real trade organization made up of actual industry leaders as opposed to some wannabe Washington suits standing around beating more than just drums in their same tired circle jerks (also known as the Poker Players Association). The daily fantasy sports sector just happens to be supported by folks and entities that have a whole lot of money, the National Football League being among those supporters.
Beatty writes:
The major difference here is that unlike the poker industry that had very few allies (despite their efforts the Poker Players Alliance doesn’t have the cash to bribe err lobby government), the fantasy sports industry is very wealthy and they have some very wealthy and powerful allies. All four major North American sports leagues, along with Disney (owner of ESPN) have some sort of deal in place with companies offering DFS. The NBA, MLB and NHL all have league wide deals and the NFL has deals at the team level. This is support the American poker market never had.
- Jagajeet Chiba, Gambling911.com
