FanDuel Looks At 2020 Elections As Next Betting Opportunity

• It has been over a year since FanDuel launched their sportsbooks but odds on politics is not offered.
• Political betting is largely not allowed in the United States, as states restrict this type of wagering.
• Still, FanDuel wants to involve themselves with political betting odds.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – FanDuel has been at the forefront of state sponsored sports betting for over a year now. Since then, New Jersey has been surging with sports bets, as the state has surpassed Las Vegas bookies in recent months with the help of FanDuel.

FanDuel says that they hold 50 percent of the New Jersey sports betting market but they already have their sights focused on what they would like to do next.

“We would love to offer politics. Frankly, we like to offer games that everybody loves to play. Our parent company, Flutter Entertainment, does a huge business on the Betfair exchange with political betting. So, the reality is it’s just a question of: Will it be allowed from a regulatory perspective? We are working on a couple things that might be more free-to-play, but will certainly tie into the election,” said Matt King, chief executive officer of FanDuel.

Even though FanDuel would like to offer odds on politics, there are a couple of obstacles in the way. States all over the country are allowed to create laws to legalize sports betting but the language used to create sports betting laws often limit what is allowed.

The best example of this is Pennsylvania’s sports betting laws. In 2017, Act 42 legalized sports betting in Pennsylvania. The following language clearly defines what legal sports betting is in Pennsylvania:

“Sporting event” – “A professional or collegiate sports or athletic event or a motor race event.”
“Sports wagering” – “The business of accepting wagers on sporting events or on the individual performance statistics of athletes in a sporting event or combination of sporting events by any system or method of wagering, including over the Internet through websites and mobile applications.”

In other words, Pennsylvania sportsbooks are not allowed to take action on anything that is not a sporting event. That is why during the NFL Draft, no Pennsylvania sportsbook could take bets on the event.

Act 42 even removes all involvement from politics, stating that certain people working with the sportsbooks cannot contribute to political campaigns.

As you can see, Pennsylvania wanted sports betting and politics to be completely separate. To do that, they created language that would prevent political betting, and many states across the US have done the same. If FanDuel wants to offer odds on politics, they need to make sweeping law changes in the country before they can seriously think about the expansion.

News tags: Act 42 | FanDuel | Meadowlands | New Jersey | NFL | Pennsylvania | political betting