I’m not going to go so far as to say that the end is nigh for daily fantasy sports (DFS), but it is not looking good for the young and suddenly extremely popular gaming pastime. On Monday afternoon, yet another shoe dropped, as Amaya Gaming announced that it is pulling its DFS site, StarsDraft, almost completely out of the United States market. Customers in just four states – Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland and New Jersey – are still allowed to play on the site.
The move comes as Attorneys General in multiple states, as well as the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice, are examining the legality of daily fantasy sports. Fantasy sports were given a carveout in the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA), but the advent of DFS and its subsequent rise in popularity was not foreseen when lobbyists and politicians agreed to the clause in the bill. It appears the brewing legal and regulatory issues have prompted Amaya to play it safe and remove itself from jurisdictions where DFS is not explicitly legal and regulated.
Below is the e-mail Amaya and StarsDraft sent to its customers (this writer being one of them), in its entirety:
Update to List of Accepted States
Following a review of recent daily fantasy sports developments within a number of jurisdictions, we regret to inform you that StarsDraft is now limiting its operations to a select list of states. Starting today, only players physically located in Kansas, Massachusetts, Maryland and New Jersey will be able to participate in our fantasy sports contests.
Withdrawing Your Funds
As part of Amaya Inc., one of the world’s largest and most regulated online gaming brands, we at StarsDraft pride ourselves on best practices with respect to compliance, security, responsible gaming and the protection of player funds. Unlike many other fantasy sports operators, Amaya ensures that all of its brands hold end users’ deposits, winnings and bonuses in trust accounts through which money is fully protected from company operating liabilities.
As such, your full balance is and will remain available for withdrawal at your earliest convenience.
To thank you for your support of the StarsDraft brand, we are making the following changes to our system to help assist players with their withdrawal requests:
1. We have removed any minimum withdraw restrictions;
2. We have removed any Bankroll Builder promotional withdraw restrictions;
3. We are converting all loyalty points into cash;
4. We are converting all open tickets and non-deposit promotion tickets into cash (this does not include Bankroll Builder or First Down deposit tickets);
5. We have removed the minimum check withdrawal restrictions.
Any winnings and subsequent tickets or loyalty points earned after tonight’s NFL payouts will also be converted to cash following the above structure.
For more information on this change, please click here.
A Regulated Daily Fantasy Sports Environment
The recent incidents involving the practices of certain leading companies in DFS demonstrate that the current self-regulatory practices have fallen short.
We strongly believe that there is a real need for state regulation and licensing of DFS, and until such time, we will not be operating in any other states than the four mentioned above which already have existing and clearly defined daily fantasy sports guidance. We believe that this is the responsible approach for our company and encourage others in the industry to consider the same measures in order to ensure the future growth and viability of daily fantasy sports in the U.S.
We apologize for the abrupt change in policy, we will actively monitor ongoing developments within DFS and we look forward to working with all states interested in implementing set guidelines for the operation of daily fantasy sports in their jurisdiction.
