Why Gambling Magnate Calls Daily Fantasy “Immoral”

Sheldon Adelson is no enemy of games of chance, gambling, wagers, or whatever you want to call it. How could he be? He’s CEO of the largest gaming company in the market, with a current market capitalization of $44 billion. And he’s certainly no enemy of sports – he’s proposed a plan to bring the Oakland Raiders football team to Las Vegas in a brand new stadium he would build for $1.9 billion.

But he is firmly against daily fantasy sports, and the reason why might surprise you.

Daily fantasy sports is a hot issue right now because of two reasons: first, football season is starting, which means fantasy football season is starting; and second, because more and more states are placing restrictions on daily fantasy sports companies, primarily DraftKings and FanDuel. What’s being contested is whether daily fantasy is a form of gambling or not.

According to the state of Nevada, it is. The Nevada Gaming Control Board is now requiring these companies to acquire a gambling license if they want to continue operations in their state, but this is almost certainly not going to happen.

Adelson of Las Vegas Sands couldn’t agree more with their decision: “Look, I’m in the business… and I can tell you this: Daily fantasy sports is gambling. There’s no question about it.”

He went on to say that he views fantasy sports as an immoral business because, compared to other forms of gaming entertainment, he believes it exploits poor people. He says, “Look, I’m not against gambling, obviously” but differentiates between someone who pays to come to a casino to gamble as a form of entertainment – an honest way to make money, in his opinion – and fantasy sports companies which exploit exploitable people.

“We’re making money. I don’t need it. And I think it’s immoral.”