Nevada initially approves return for daily fantasy sports betting

The Nevada Gaming Control Board has given its initial approval for racing and sportsbook pioneer Vic Salerno to launch a service that would enable punters to make fantasy sports wagers via a platform similar to pari-mutuel betting.

According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal newspaper, the organisation voted unanimously in favour of recommending to the US state’s Gaming Commission that Salerno and his US Fantasy company receive an off-track, pari-mutuel sports system operator’s licence.

Should Salerno be granted final approval by the regulatory body, his company would become the first to offer betting on fantasy sports contests though Nevada casinos.

Speaking after the initial ruling, Salerno said that the new service could be live by August, with punters able to wager on various fantasy sports competitions such as American football and baseball.

Salerno, who developed the first self-service sports wagering kiosk and Nevada’s first mobile sports betting application, added that at least 50% of betting within the service would come from new players.

Daily fantasy sports had been a popular service in Nevada until October last year when state regulators said that the activity constituted sports wagering under Nevada law, ruling that operators had to be licensed by the state.

The decision led to the withdrawal of many major daily fantasy sports operators from the state, many of which have continued to lobby against the ruling.

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