Redskins Enter Into Fantasy Sports Deal With FanDuel.com: More to Come?

The Washington Redskins are the latest professional sports franchise to enter into a partnership deal with a daily fantasy sports website. 

The Skins have joined forces with FanDuel.com.  Its chief competitor, DraftKings.com, has already entered into similar arrangements with the New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers.

Both FanDuel and DraftKings offer daily fantasy sports contests that pay within hours as opposed to the season-long fantasy leagues offered by the likes of Yahoo! And ESPN.

"We're not looking to compete" with the year-long formats, says Justine Sacco, with FanDuel. "One-day fantasy is complementary to the season-long league formats. There are sports fans who do not play all season long, because they don't want to commit to that format."

"The Redskins are an invaluable strategic partner for FanDuel as we continue to bring one-day fantasy football to the masses," said FanDuel CEO Nigel Eccles in a release last week.

"Our new one-day fantasy game with FanDuel provides our fans with another way to connect with their favorite teams and players throughout the season," said NBA Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum of the agreement. "FanDuel has established itself as the leader in the marketplace and the new game will be a great addition to our overall fantasy offerings."

Noah Frank of the Washington Post explained the significance of these deals:

Here's how it all works. Essentially, the house takes a cut of games that players play against one another, many of which offer graduated payouts to a percentage of players who score at the top of the pool.

For those who participated on any level in the online poker boom, this may sound quite familiar. But this type of sports gambling has not been regulated like poker to this point, and for the major professional sports teams and leagues to begin to buy into partnerships with these companies is no insignificant step. It provides a legitimacy that could help insulate the services from any future legislative crackdowns.

Unregulated, maybe. 

Legal, yes….well, sort of.

Under federal legislation that went into effect October of 2008, fantasy sports leagues were provided an exemption from a measure prohibiting many other forms of online gambling including blackjack, poker and sports betting (though some would argue – and rightfully so – that daily fantasy sports contests and sports betting are essentially the same thing). 

Regardless of any federal legislation, some states still outlaw contests for which daily fantasy sports events can be classified. Even at the federal legislation, the daily contests could conceivably fall into a sort of grey area.

"We think of ourselves much more as an evolution of fantasy sports," says Sacco. "Whereas gambling is something completely different and illegal in most states."

Frank notes in his reporting that the distinction is a fine line to walk, “but it's the difference between government intervention and an explosively growing startup industry. Of course, it helps that this new wave of fantasy sports is also tremendously beneficial for the leagues themselves.”

Daily fantasy sports contests are cited for helping to sway NBA Commissioner Adam Silver into supporting wagers on professional sports.  His opt-ed piece in the New York Times last week raised eyebrows as it came days after his league entered into a partnership arrangement with FanDuel.

- Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com