Licensed DFS Website ‘US Fantasy’ Could Hit the Gambling Market Soon

A legal and licensed DFS website called US Fantasy is poised to hit the Nevada gambling market as DFS controversy continues to grow across the country.

In US gambling news, a legal alternative to DFS could soon become available in the state of Nevada. Successful sportsbook operator Vic Salerno has announced that he’s applied to Nevada regulators to license a new company called US Fantasy (USF). The company would offer a variety of fantasy sports contests in Las Vegas casinos, with the games described as intra-state skill games utilizing pari-mutuel systems.

In a company statement, Salerno claims “US Fantasy immediately provides a practical solution to the current issues surrounding DFS.” He also added that not only USF would profit from the business endeavor, saying that: ”Our unique contests figure to dramatically grow the popularity of fantasy sports in Nevada. We strongly anticipate increased customer traffic and revenue for the host casino properties and a taxable benefit for the State.”


USF games would have the option to be played in traditional land-based casinos, as well as on mobile and desktop. They’d also have designed-in consumer protections, age verification systems, segregated cash accounts, and monitoring for money laundering.

Licensed DFS website could actually increase revenue for DraftKings and FanDuel

Salerno believes that USF could be the key to rebranding DFS in the US. While that would require labeling DFS as a form of gambling under US gambling laws—something that FanDuel and DraftKings are adamant about it not being—the designation could actually be a good thing for DFS operators.

Salerno wants to bring a legal DFS site to the Nevada market (Photo: William Hill)

Says Lia Nower, Rutgers University gambling expert and director of the Center for Gambling Studies, on the subject: “I doubt most people could tell the differences between DFS and sports betting. Most people, except those who run Major League Baseball, that is. Isn’t it ironic, they ban Pete Rose for life from baseball and take away his chances at the Hall of Fame for gambling, but MLB can invest millions in, essentially, the same activity and hope for a profit?”

Nower is referencing the fact that several major sports leagues—including Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League, the National Basketball Association, and Major League Soccer—have made significant investments in DFS operators DraftKings and FanDuel, with the NBA even going as far as to sign a four-year equity stake agreement with FanDuel.

Given their wild popularity with sports fans and the monetary support they receive from major sports leagues, should DFS be declared gambling, and sports betting declared legal, DFS operators like DraftKings, FanDuel, and the new US Fantasy would stand to make billions of dollars in revenue.