Nevada Governor denied DFS talk with Cowboys owner

After an ESPN podcast reported that Jerry Jones discussed DFS legality with the governor, his office released a statement to deny it.

US.- The office of Nevada’s Governor Brian Sandoval has issued a statement to deny rumors about an alleged conversation with an NFL owner about the legalization of Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS). The release is a response to an ESPN’s Outside The Lines (OTL) report that indicated a conversation between Sandoval and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

According to OTL, Jones, an early investor in DraftKings, asked the governor to work to legalise DFS in Nevada during some talks about the Raiders move to Las Vegas before it happened. Despite both of them declined to comment on this report, Sandoval’s office released a statement to Legal Sports Report which said that DFS wasn’t brought up during said conversations.

ESPN’s Don Van Natta assured during the OTL podcast that “several key sources” confirmed the legalisation of DFS coming up, despite Sandoval’s office categorical statement.

“The Governor and Mr. Jones have never had a conversation about Daily Fantasy Sports and ESPN’s suggested implication to the contrary is patently false,” said a spokesperson for the governor on Friday. “The Governor believes that fantasy sports constitutes sports betting and thus requires a gaming license in Nevada. The State has not altered its regulatory scheme or proposed any changes to Nevada law to accommodate any specific business.”

There has been lots of speculation on sports betting and DFS after the confirmation of the Raiders move from Oakland to Las Vegas. In Nevada, a gaming license is required to operate since Attorney General Adam Laxalt said so in 2015. However, there has been some pushes from DraftKings and FanDuel to promote new legislation to reverse this position.

Last spring, the Nevada Gaming Policy Committee discussed, among many other issuses, the DFS situation. After the reported conversation between Sandoval and Jones, the governor said that there was “no need for changes” to Nevada law to take in DFS. Therefore, it seems that, whether or not the exchange included its legality, Sandoval’s position hasn’t changed.