For many years now, FanDuel has said the same thing over and over again. The clout of illegal sports gambling has to be reined in. No matter who was sitting at the helm of the company, they had the same opinion about the unregulated market. The current chief executive, Amy Howe, is no less determined to communicate the urgency of the matter.
Illegal Gambling Market Size Unknown
While the clout of the $150-billion illegal gambling market has been shrinking, and 35 states and the District of Columbia have legalized gambling, there still remains more to be done to take on the issue. Attending the Future of Everything Festival hosted by The Wall Street Journal, Howe spoke about how consumers may not even be aware that they are gambling at an illegal website.
She called the black market “massive” and said that it would be hard to give specific numbers as to its actual size, but she suggests a number much higher than the one originally purported by the American Gaming Association several years back. Howe believes that the market may amount to trillions of dollars. Consumers are also unaware of all the signs of a regulated website and may be misled to register at an offshore or illegal website.
FanDuel has made it its mission to help educate customers and anyone interested in the segment about what black markets are and why they should be avoided. Importantly, FanDuel is collaborating with state attorneys general in order to ensure that local authorities are always pushing forward with adequate measures. She argues that one of the issues to tackle is making sure that people understand how big the illegal betting market is.
Many companies have sought to voluntarily withdraw from the United States and specific jurisdictions within the country fearing a preemptive strike by authorities. BetOnline and 5Dimes, for example, are now complying with requests to cease operations in specific states. With people like Howe raising awareness about non-regulated gambling websites, they have no other choice really.
FanDuel Maintains Momentum in Betting Season
Howe did not miss to talk business and where FanDuel Group stood in it. According to the chief executive, FanDuel has been able to collect eight million bets on the Super Bowl in February and another 19 million were placed through the platform as part of the March Madness college betting bonanza.
Overall, FanDuel Group has many good reasons to work with regulators and authorities to ensure that fewer illegal gambling websites are available. Howe noted that gambling advertisement has also become more mainstream, enabling consumers to be directed at safe and regulated websites.