Calls for Self Regulation of Daily Fantasy Sports Rejected by Nevada Senator

Nevada Senator, Harry Reid, has hit out at the proposals for self-regulation of the daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) industry. He stated that this would not be sufficient to be able to police and oversee the "unregulated, and illegal gambling."

Mr. Reid's comments are a response to an open letter from Mr. Nigel Eccles, who is the chief executive of DFS operator FanDuel. Mr Eccles said the industry requires enforceable, strong, common sense, regulations to protect consumers.

Mr. Eccles expressed his support for some state legislation that has been proposed in different jurisdictions all over US and, although not naming specific states, he said the proposals should include age and location verification requirements, also safeguards against insider company information not to be used in contests and third-party audits.

He continued that there were steps that he had always advocated for and that now is the time to memorialise them into law for his company and the entire industry.

Although Mr. Eccles did not refer to any state let alone Nevada, Senator Reid opted to respond by stating that he was glad that Mr. Eccles recognised the need for regulation, this could only work if it was properly enforced.

In a statement, Mr. Reid highlighted the allegations of the insider betting as well as the ability for younger people to be able to access DFS websites and then be able to gamble thousands of dollars.

He continued that without very strong oversight, there is nothing in the way of stopping these terrible things from happening, and that they will continue to see and expect more corruption from the unregulated, illegal gambling.

Mr. Reid urged the state and Federal officials to do a thorough examination of the industry and to regulate what is one of the most essential aspects of gambling by another name.