Fantasy Sports Website DraftKings Still Operating in Nevada Despite Orders to Stop

DraftKings, the daily fantasy sports website, continued to operate in Nevada despite orders to stop.

The Nevada Gaming Control Board ruled on Thursday that participating in daily fantasy sports should be grouped under gambling. The board then ordered all websites to stop operating until the proper gambling licenses are attained. Several websites, including FanDuel, complied with the order.

DraftKings, which is valued at more than $1 billion, continued to accept entries for the weekend. The company is financially backed by Major League Baseball (MLB). Robert K. Kraft, the owner of the Patriots and Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys.

"Because our game is nuanced in the fact that we allow late swaps, we allowed players who had already entered games on Thursday to be able to continue their full experience with the product until games close and are paid out on Monday night, regardless of their location," DraftKings' spokeswoman said via email reported by the Boston Globe. "We notified all Nevada customers of the issue and requested that they withdraw all funds and close their accounts. We also implemented blocking mechanisms for Nevada residents from creating new accounts, depositing money or playing new games."

The chairman of the board, A.G. Burnett, stated that they are aware that DraftKings is still accepting entries. The board will be monitoring DraftKings' activity.

"We have been and will continue to test the DFS operators' websites and apps to determine if they've disengaged from Nevada or not," Burnett stated. "Failure to disengage can constitute a crime; we will work with our counsel on what are the next steps forward, should that be the case."

The fantasy sports industry, which has been unregulated, has come under scrutiny for how they handle data. A U.S. attorney's office in Florida is investigating the legality and practices of the industry. The

Kraft commented about the industry during a pre-game radio interview with 98.5 The Sports Hub.

"It's something that I think people enjoy and they play it and congress made it legal," Kraft said. "It's interesting to me over the last month or so with all the yelling out of Washington about how this is an unregulated industry. Well, they have the right to regulate it. They chose to make it legal and not pass regulation so I think both companies (DraftKings and FanDuel), given what I've read in the media, are both willing and I think they welcome the oversight. And what I've read of both companies' CEOs, they've said everything should be transparent and open to regulation, which is probably the right next step."

Kraft stated, overall, that he believed the industry "should be regulated."