FanDuel CEO stresses importance of RG to prevent “draconian” regulatory measures
Amy Howe also hits out at offshore operators and the impact on young people in interview with CNBC
FanDuel CEO Amy Howe has said that the line between legal and illegal operators is starting to blur, and young users are not being protected properly.
Speaking to Contessa Brewer at the CNBC Evolve Global Summit, which took place yesterday, November 2, Howe stressed the popularity of sports betting since the repeal of PASPA in 2018 had resulted in confusion over legal and illegal operators.
Howe pointed to her home state of California as an example of where sports betting had yet to be legalised, but offshore firms were moving in to capitalise on the post-2018 wave.
Howe commented: “I look at my home state, California, where sports betting is not yet legal. As sports betting becomes more mainstream, I think the distinction between a legally regulated sports bettor like FanDuel and some of the offshore operators who are not operating legally and protecting consumers, that line starts to blur, and it’s confusing.
“What that means is you can have underage kids who are on these platforms and not being protected by some of the tools and controls that we have in place because we’re regulated,” she added.
Touching further on responsible gambling, Howe said the link between gambling and sports was “endemic”, which means operators must be vigilant to potential harms.
She said: “Gaming and sports is just endemic. When kids are drafting their fantasy sports leagues, and they’re watching four different games on Sunday, it’s just part of the culture, and there’s a really positive aspect of that, but the unintended consequences if it’s not managed the right way [is that] there can be challenges.”
Howe added that being part of Flutter allowed the operator to tap into group-wide experiences from the UK and Australia on how to best approach responsible gambling, and therefore prevent regulatory overstep.
She said: “If I think about where we sit within Flutter as the largest global gaming operator, we have the benefit of hindsight.
“If we can lead the industry and the sector the right way and build a responsible set of tools and a responsible sector, I think we can manage this in a way that you don’t have some of the more draconian measures coming in.
“The flip side of that is if regulatory bodies come down too hard, all that does is it pushes consumers back to the black market.
“We have the benefit of being within Flutter. We know what works and doesn’t work in terms of how we build good, responsible sectors. I think it’s a huge priority for me as a CEO and our company,” she added.