Daily Fantasy Sports to stop featuring university sports
The voluntary decision is part of an agreement between the operators and the the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
US.- Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) top websites, DraftKings and FanDuel voluntarily decided to exclude games involving university sports from their portfolio. The decision came as part of an agreement with the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which is the highest authority regarding university sports.
The university sports industry generates billions of dollars in revenue each year even though the athletes are considered student amateurs.
Both companies confirmed the decision on sports news channel ESPN, saying they would stop offering fantasy games related to NCAA sports right after the “March Madness” basketball tournament concludes. The tournament culminates this weekend with the “Final Four” semi-finals and Monday’s national championship game.
“We appreciate and commend DraftKings and FanDuel’s action to stop offering contests involving college, high school and youth sports,” Said Mark Emmert NCAA president in a statement. “This action culminates months of hard work between all parties to reach a place that is good for amateur sports and, most importantly, the young people who participate.”
Emmert added that the NCAA would continue to work to ensure that legislation governing the fantasy sites in different states would include “carve outs” with the aim of preventing amateur sports from being involved.