Amaya withdraws StarsDraft from all but four US states

PokerStars owner calls for more states to license and regulate daily fantasy sports

Amaya Gaming has withdrawn its newly launched fantasy sports site from all but four US states as the DFS sector comes under increasing pressure to regulate following the industry’s recent data leak scandal. [private]

The gaming giant said it blocked StarsDraft from operating real-money tournaments in the majority of US states following a “review of recent developments” in a number of jurisdictions.

Last week the Nevada regulator released the findings of its investigation into the legality of daily fantasy sports, and ruled the activity was gambling and required operators to apply for a sportsbook license.

Amaya said it had immediately withdrawn StarsDraft from Nevada, and had also taken the decision to pull out of Florida where the US attorney’s office in Tampa is investigating the legality of the industry.

“Amaya supports the decision by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, and believes that it is prudent to limit the StarsDraft offering until such time that more states adopt a clear stance on DFS,” the firm said.

The operator said it would “actively monitor developments” and work with states interested in implementing “clear guidelines” for the operation of daily fantasy sports within their borders.

“We have previously called for regulation and licensing of DFS to ensure consumer protection and strict government oversight of operators,” Amaya said in a statement.

“Prior to the launch of StarsDraft and based on a thorough review of the regulatory environment at that time, Amaya decided not to launch StarsDraft in jurisdictions where many of our competitors continue to operate today, including Michigan.”

Effective immediately, StarsDraft will only be available in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Kansas and Maryland, which the firm said would have no “negative financial impact” on its business.

Amaya’s decision to limit its operation of StarsDraft comes as a growing number of states are launching investigations into the legality of DFS.

The Delaware Finance Department recently confirmed it was conducting an investigation into whether DFS was legal under state law, while a similar probe is underway in Georgia.

In Pennsylvania a bill has been filed seeking to license and regulate DFS operators, while similar legislation has been filed in California and Texas.

Calls for regulation have come off the back of the DraftKings data leak scandal, which erupted earlier in the month after employee Ethan Haskell published player lineup data ahead of a contest taking place.

DraftKings subsequently hired law firm Greenberg Traurig to conduct an independent investigation into the firm and its processes, and yesterday released a two page summary of the report which found there had been no wrongdoing.

“We are very pleased that the independent investigation by Greenberg Traurig has confirmed the findings of our internal review of this matter and our conclusion that there was no improper use of information by our employee,” DraftKings CEO Jason Robins, said.

“In fact, as the investigation also concluded, it was not even possible for non-public information to have been used improperly,” he added.