Spin Cycle: FanDuel Founder Fight, Missouri Measure Highlight Week In Gambling

Welcome to “Spin Cycle,” Casino Reports’ weekly Friday roundup of all things impactful, intriguing, impressive, or idiotic in the gambling industry. Pull up a chair, grab a stack of chips and a glass of your beverage of choice, and take a spin with us through this week’s news cycle …

High-stakes H2H

FanDuel co-founder Nigel Eccles and a list of fellow plaintiffs about 100 names long have filed a second amended complaint in New York against the board members and private equity investors presiding over the company’s 2018 sale to Paddy Power Betfair (now Flutter Entertainment). The tl;dr version of the complaint: Eccles, his fellow founders, and FanDuel’s early investors and employees did not get their proper share of a company now valued at over $20 billion.

The New York Court of Appeals already found in the plaintiffs’ favor in May that the suit could proceed, but as Eccles posted on social media, the expanded complaint “publicly details the defendants’ various breaches of [their] duties, as well as outlines the defendants’ fraud, conspiracy and bribery under Scots law.”

FanDuel was founded in 2009 as a daily fantasy sports operator, and is now the leading U.S. sportsbook in terms of handle and revenue. Flutter is thriving these days — no doubt about that. Let’s see which side drafts the superior roster of lawyers as this nosebleed-stakes cash game plays out.

MO-mentum for sports betting?

It was a busy week in terms of midwestern states progressing forward on sports betting ballot initiatives. First a Nebraska effort advanced through committee on Monday, and then on Tuesday, Missouri made a bigger splash by announcing that a constitutional amendment to legalize sports betting will be on the Nov. 5 ballot in the Show Me State.

The initiative is backed by six pro sports teams in Missouri and has been funded thus far by FanDuel and DraftKings. Operator winnings would be taxed at a modest 10%, and the ballot language estimates tax revenue of up to $28.9 million annually.

This is definitely not going to be the Missouri ballot initiative in November that attracts the most attention — not when there’s also a question regarding abortion laws. The sports betting question also figures to be overshadowed by an amendment to raise the minimum wage.

But this sports wagering initiative is an important and intriguing one just the same. Is it a favorite to pass? Industry analyst Chris Grove leans no:

Jabs and hooks

Just in case you don’t feel this week’s Spin Cycle has waded deeply enough into polarizing topics yet by mentioning “abortion laws,” now we turn to a story about COVID vaccines.

As the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported, the lawsuits are piling up in Nevada, filed by former MGM Resorts International employees claiming wrongful termination for refusal to get vaccinated. MGM was the first major U.S. casino operator to require the shots, issuing a vaccine mandate for full-time, non-remote employees in August 2021.

Six complaints that were filed between 2022 and 2024 all state that the employees sought a religious exemption to getting the vaccine.

For what it’s worth, a similar complaint filed by a former employee of Aria was dismissed last October.

The Shuffle: Other news and views

BAD IDEA JEANS: From New Coke to integrity fees: Abandoned DraftKings surcharge takes its place among all-time bad ideas

GOLDEN RULE?: Sportsbooks differ on settling bets for USA-China gold medal tie

BETTORS’ PARADISE: Scenes from BetBash, the soul of the sports betting industry

ALL-IN MOVE: Ontario wants to allow online gamblers to play with non-Canadians

POWER & GLORY: Pennsylvania Powerball player hits $214 million jackpot

DONE DEAL: Betting Hero sold to co-founders and GeoComply for $37M

NOTHING BUT NET: NetGaming CEO Pallavi Deshmukh: ‘We got in at just the right time’

BUONGIORNO, PLAYTECH: Flutter in talks to buy Playtech’s Italian unit

RESORTS REPERCUSSIONS: NGCB files complaint against Resorts World Las Vegas for allowing illegal activities

LONE STAR LOBBYING: Las Vegas Sands targets North Texas officials in renewed push for legalized gambling

ALL FOR NOTHING: Anticlimax ahead in the epic New York City casino licensing wars?

WORLD QUERIES OF POKER: Peter Jackson raises questions over GG Poker acquisition

HOG WILD: Arkansas Edge, Saracen Resort Casino pushing for new form of gambling in state

EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES: Job guarantees, not economic projections, may be key to unlocking iGaming legalization stalemate in New York

JUST KITTEN AROUND: Cartoon cats take over Oregon Lottery digital billboards following hack

ON THE RADAR: Sportradar hints at acquisition. Could Endeavor arm be a target?

LOTS OF SLOTS: Hard Rock Bet Casino hits 2,000 games in New Jersey library

SINKING FEELING: Gambling violations prompt Notre Dame men’s swim team suspension

CAPITAL OFFENSE: D.C. appears to be investigating Intralot over sports betting operations

YOUR MONEY’S NO GOOD HERE: WinnaVegas casino to deploy Table Trac technology, Koin cashless wagering

HOUSE PARTY: United States commercial gaming revenue reaches record $17.63 billion in Q2 2024

The Bonus Round

Completing the Spin Cycle with some odds and ends and our favorite social media posts of the week:

• Since there’s been some recent Rounders 2 buzz making headlines, here’s a quick fun fact for ya’: More time has passed between Rounders and any possible Rounders sequel than passed between The Hustler (1961) and The Color of Money (1986).

• This was easy to overlook amidst all the other not-so-great news for DraftKings this week, but the sports betting giant managed to accidentally send an email to its entire customer database on Tuesday night, telling everyone they were receiving a bonus bet as a make-good for a golf wager that had a reduced payout. It was a rather confusing email to receive — especially if you didn’t make any golf bets last weekend. On Wednesday night, DraftKings sent a follow-up email telling everyone to ignore the previous email. The lesson this week, as it pertains to things DraftKings says: When in doubt, disregard.

• This week’s “talking to a bunch of sportsbook operators the way an angry school principal talks to misbehaving third-graders” award goes to Massachusetts Gaming Commission Interim Chair Jordan Maynard, looking ahead to the MGC’s next attempt at a discussion of limiting practices: