Fanatics no longer an American Gaming Association member
Fanatics followed FanDuel and DraftKings in announcing its entry into prediction markets. It has also followed them out of the American Gaming Association (AGA).
A week after the company launched Fanatics Markets on Dec. 3, Fanatics is no longer a member of the AGA. An AGA spokesperson told SBC Americas that Fanatics relinquished its membership last week and the gaming trade body has scrubbed the online sportsbook’s name from its membership list.
“Fanatics Betting and Gaming has elected to withdraw its membership from the American Gaming Association,” Fanatics VP of Communications Kevin Hennessy told SBC Americas. “While we respect the work that the AGA does for the regulated gaming market, we have a difference of opinion on what that means when it comes to prediction markets. This was not a decision that we took lightly.”
FanDuel and DraftKings previously split from the AGA in mid-November, citing irreconcilable differences of opinion about sports event contracts.
Fanatics jumps into predictions
Fanatics was by no means the first online sports betting operator to announce plans to begin offering sports event contracts. As well as FanDuel and DraftKings’ confirmed plans, daily fantasy sports-focused PrizePicks and Underdog already provide prediction markets on their own platforms.
However, Fanatics Markets is the first separate, standalone prediction market product launched by a sportsbook. It currently offers contracts including on sports in 24 states via a partnership with Crypto.com. Fanatics acquired Commodity Futures Trading Commission-licensed Paragon Global Markets to facilitate the launch.
Fanatics’ exit means that a close to podium position online gaming operator in the U.S. has joined the top two in splitting from the association whose mandate is to represent the American gambling industry, leaving the organization with only bet365 representing a purely online organization among the membership.
AGA fiercely opposed to PMs
The AGA has been staunchly opposed to prediction markets’ expansion into sports, but an AGA spokesperson told SBC Americas recently that it intended to maintain close ties with FanDuel and DraftKings in its mission to promote and protect legal, regulated gaming.
The AGA had an installation at the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States (NCLGS) Winter Meeting this week counting how much money it says states are losing in real time as a result of prediction markets offering sports contracts.
Is the land-based vs. digital divide widening?
All three of FanDuel, DraftKings and Fanatics are online-only gaming operators. Neither PrizePicks nor Underdog were AGA members. While those digital platforms have embraced prediction markets, operators with a land-based element, such as Caesars, MGM Resorts International, PENN Entertainment and more, have kept their distance from the fast-evolving vertical.
The three ex-AGA memers are members of the Sports Betting Alliance (SBA), alongside bet365 and MGM’s joint venture with Entain, BetMGM. There has been no word about bet365’s stance on prediction markets, or if they are even on its long-term radar. Meanwhile, BetMGM, is aligned with MGM in opposing sports-related prediction markets.
As online sportsbooks with prediction plans leave the AGA, a senior executive at the trade body has left the organization to align more closely with online sportsbooks. The SBA announced AGA SVP of Strategic Communications Joe Maloney as the organization’s new president, with incumbent president Jeremy Kudon moving to the role of chairman.
Kudon said Maloney’s “deep understanding of gaming policy, proven leadership in public affairs and established relationships” make him an ideal leader for the online sports betting association at a pivotal time.