Daily fantasy sports have been legal in Connecticut for almost a year, but one of the two companies that offer it has temporarily stopped.
“Just last week DraftKings signed onto the DCP ruling saying they could comply with all of the regulations relative to the fantasy component and FanDuel said they were unable to do so,” Sen. Cathy Osten says.
Kaitlyn Krasslet, a spokeswoman for the Department of Consumer Protection, says “the provisional license expired Sunday February 27, after which FanDuel is no longer able to offer paid fantasy contests in Connecticut until their platform meets Connecticut's requirements for fantasy contests.”
When you open up the fantasy portion of the FanDuel app you are still able to set your lineup, but when it comes time to place the bet this notification pops up saying it’s no longer available.
Get top local stories in Connecticut delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Connecticut's News Headlines newsletter.
“Due to a change in state regulations, FanDuel is no longer able to offer paid-entry daily fantasy contests in Connecticut. Customers may continue to play any free contests with their existing FanDuel account. The FanDuel sportsbook and Mohegan Sun Casino platforms both remain live and customers are free to continue to use their FanDuel account to wager on either platform. We expect to resume offering paid-entry contests by the start of the NFL season,” FanDuel said in a statement.
“Fantasy games weren’t designed to bring in a lot of revenue to the state and I think it’s unfortunate that FanDuel could not accommodate the rules and regulations because you always want some competition,” Sen. Cathy Osten said.
Osten, who co-chairs the Public Safety Committee says FanDuel, which partnered with Mohegan Sun to offer fantasy sports, sports betting, and online casino games halted its fantasy sports contests.
“I believe DraftKings can absorb the players that were on FanDuel concerning fantasy gaming,” Osten said.
Osten says one of the biggest hurdles for the company was the time the app would be allowed to stay open.
“DCP said you could only leave the application open for half an hour at a time and to set up a team you might do a couple of hours work researching the players,” Osten said.
For now, fantasy players will have to use DraftKings to place their bets.
“I do think that having more than one app in the grand scheme of things is good for all and provides that competition. I always think it necessary,” Osten said.
FanDuel sportsbook still accepts sports bets.
