Nevada Issues First License to a Fantasy Sports Operator
The Nevada Gaming Control Board issued the first-ever license to a fantasy operator last week. USFantasy Sports was approved during a meeting on June 23rd and is expected to launch in conjunction with local casinos in August. This is the first license to be awarded to a fantasy sports company since the Gaming Control Board ordered all Nevada daily fantasy sports sites to either exit the state or apply for gambling licenses.
The USFantasy Sports website says its games will be offered by the 79 casino members of the Nevada Pari-Mutuel Association. Included in that list are all the big names – Aria, Bally’s, Bellagio, Caesar’s Palace, and many more. There is a strong chance that you’ll now have fantasy sports contests on the menu the next time you visit Las Vegas.
Not Your Granddaddy’s Fantasy Daily Fantasy Site
USFantasy contests are significantly different than the typical daily fantasy contests with which we’ve grown accustomed over the past several years. These contests do make use of a scoring system that will look familiar to veteran players, but you will not be building teams with a virtual salary or competing in large contests with thousands of other lineups.
Each USFantasy contest will revolve around exactly one position. In football, for example, you might participate in a contest just for quarterbacks, running backs, or any other position. You will then place wagers on specific players to perform the best in that position. If the player(s) you choose accumulate the most fantasy points, you win the bet.
Once a contest begins, USFantasy will track the real-world players as they compete on the field. As those players accumulate stats in the real world, they accumulate fantasy points. After every game on the slate is completed, USFantasy will rank each player based on the number of fantasy points accumulated. If the player you backed to win does indeed end up with the most fantasy points, you win your bet.
USFantasy will use a parimutuel system similar to horse racing betting. For example, you can make WIN, PLACE, and SHOW bets in order to pick the best players. A “win” bet will pay if the player you choose finishes in first place according to points accumulated. A “place” bet will win if your player finishes in either first or second place. A “show” bet will win if your chosen player finishes anywhere in the top three.
As with traditional pari-mutuel wagering, your exact payouts will vary based on how many people make the same picks as you. All money taken in is pooled together, and then that pool is used to fund the payouts. If you choose a popular player (such as Cam Newton for the quarterback position), your potential payout is probably going to be smaller. This is because a lot of people will also select him, and if he wins, that means more people will split the prize fund.
If you choose an unpopular player and he wins, the payout is going to be more lucrative because you won’t have to split the winnings with as many other people. The way it works in horse racing is the oddsmaker will post the projected odds on each runner ahead of time, but ultimately it is the betting public that determines the true payouts.
USFantasy will also accept other parimutuel-style wagers such as exacta, trifecta, and daily double. Additionally, they will host a progressive jackpot wager in which you attempt to pick the best player from each of seven different positions. If you correctly choose the player to accumulate the most fantasy points in every position, you stand to win a prize that could extend into millions of dollars.
Will USFantasy Go Online in Other States?
Initially, USFantasy will only be rolling out to select casinos with parimutuel racing connections. This is not a standard daily fantasy site by any means; you’ll need to visit an actual casino to get in on the action. However, it does seem like this is something that could actually gain traction on the internet.
USFantasy’s business model resembles online horse racing betting (which is legal in most states) more than it does traditional fantasy sports. The people behind USFantasy are taking a clever approach by combining two forms of wagering that are at least somewhat legal and accepted in many states. The big question would be if the laws that already govern online horse racing and daily fantasy would be sufficient to cover this new business model.