Friday Night News Dumps: Kalshi Gets More Time In Nevada; Underdog Settles In NY
A couple of decently big pieces of news broke tonight, so figured I would send out a brief update.
First, prediction market platform Kalshi faced a Friday deadline to leave Nevada or fight a cease-and-desist order in the state. For now, Kalshi is kicking the can down the road. The company asked for more time to figure out what it wants to do, and Nevada said that was okay. So, we continue to wait for what’s next. More at The Event Horizon:
Also late Friday, news broke that Underdog Fantasy would no longer offer its fantasy contests in New York and would pay a fine of $17.5 million.
Twitter thread from Robert Linnehan and story by him here: “The decision to withdraw all DFS contests – both pick’em and draft – came after a ruling from the New York State Gaming Commission in which the commission determined Underdog was not in line with the state’s current DFS law.”
“It’s a unique, temporary license issue specific only to New York, and not related to any specific game format we offer,” Nicholas Green, Underdog’s General Counsel, said in a release statement. “Any fantasy game created after 2015, no matter the format, is not permitted under the commission’s interpretation of what games a temporary permitholder, like Underdog, can and cannot offer. The high fine amount speaks to the popularity of our games, as the settlement was calculated based on our revenue in New York.”
The New York State Gaming Commission released a statement and also published the settlement agreement:
“This settlement is another example of the Gaming Commission looking out for the gaming public,” said Commission Chair Brian O’Dwyer. “We encourage fantasy sports players to play only through permitted or registered operators that are subject to our comprehensive regulations that protect New Yorkers.”
PrizePicks left the state and paid a fine of $15 million last year.
Editor’s note: The Cashout, normally on Fridays, will be published this weekend.