Fantasy sports association pulls conference from Nevada

Facing a Florida Grand Jury subpoena, an FBI investigation and a ban on unlicensed daily fantasy sports activity in Nevada (see previous reports), the Fantasy Sports Trade Association has announced to its membership that it is pulling its winter conference, scheduled for January, out of Nevada.

ESPN reports that the trade association is cooperating with the federal investigation, triggered recently by allegations of insider activity and questionable legality among major DFS operators.

On Saturday FSTA president Paul Charchian wrote to members advising them of the decision to pull the conference and citing the ban by Nevada, observing that “…continued patronage in Nevada is impossible for our industry at this time.”

Charchian also acknowledged in the letter that the Association has received requests for documents and information – probably a reference to the Grand Jury subpoena or possibly an FBI request, although he emphasised that the Association is not itself the subject of the federal investigation.

The FSTA pull-out follows the withdrawal of Nevada services by DFS market leaders DraftKings, FanDuel and other operators on Friday.