The Fantasy Sports Trade Association has announced to its membership that it is pulling its winter conference, scheduled for January, out of Nevada and is cooperating with a federal investigation into daily fantasy sports operators.
In a letter sent to its members on Saturday night that was obtained by ESPN.com, FSTA president Paul Charchian said that due to the move by the Nevada Gaming Control Board this week, which required daily fantasy companies to be licensed in the state, and by the way the action was taken, "continued patronage in Nevada is impossible for our industry at this time."
As Nevada made its decision on Thursday, the two biggest daily fantasy operators, DraftKings and FanDuel, as well as a host of others, pulled their business from the state. In requiring licenses, the control board made the case within the state that daily fantasy was in fact gambling despite the companies' belief that they were protected against such a classification -- and therefore regulation -- by the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.
Charchian also publicly confirmed to his constituency for the first time that the FSTA "received a request for documents and information" from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Florida but assured its membership the FSTA itself isn't the focus of the investigation.
