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DraftKings and FanDuel Are Leaving the American Gaming Association. What It Means.

Nov 18, 2025 12:32:00 -0500 by Nick Devor | #Consumer

(Eduardo Leal / AFP / Getty Images)

Key Points

DraftKings and FanDuel are leaving the American Gaming Association, the powerful gambling industry lobbying group that’s opposed to the spread of prediction markets.

“As we expand into prediction markets, we recognize this direction is not aligned with the American Gaming Association’s current priorities for its member operators. After thoughtful consideration, we have decided to step back from our AGA membership at this time,” a FanDuel spokesperson said in a statement to Barron’s.

Also citing prediction markets, a DraftKings spokesperson told Barron’s that “DraftKings determined that its plans no longer fully align with the AGA’s direction in certain areas and have decided to relinquish its membership.”

The AGA is a titan in the betting world and hosts the annual Global Gaming Expo, or G2E, in Las Vegas. Located in Washington D.C., it’s one of the largest gambling industry lobbying groups. The AGA fought hard to overturn the federal ban on sports betting: It filed amicus briefs to the Supreme Court in favor of a 2018 ruling that took sports betting out of the federal government’s control and enabled the rise of DraftKings and FanDuel as an online sports betting duopoly in the U.S.

After years of nonstop growth in the sports betting world, DraftKings and FanDuel parent-company Flutter Entertainment were put on the backfoot by the rise of prediction market firms like Kalshi offering federally-regulated financial products known as event contracts that effectively made sports betting possible nationwide. Shares of DraftKings and Flutter in 2025 have dropped 21% and 24%, respectively, while the S&P 500 has climbed 13%.

The AGA has been consistently opposed to prediction markets. At this year’s Global Gaming Expo in October, the group’s CEO, Bill Miller, said in a keynote address that prediction markets “attempt to blur the lines, calling it investing or sweepstakes or skill games or sports event contracts—anything but what it really is, which is gambling.”

A key point of contention for the AGA is that prediction markets don’t have to pay state taxes or abide by the consumer safety regulations established by state regulators overseeing traditional sports betting. “They want the opportunity, but they don’t want any of the regulatory compliance,” Miller added in October.

In recent weeks, both DraftKings and FanDuel announced plans to bring sports event contracts of their own to states that haven’t legalized sports betting, putting them in direct opposition to the AGA.

“In discussion with DraftKings and FanDuel, the AGA has accepted their request to relinquish their membership, effective immediately. We wish them the best, and we expect to maintain close ties in our mission to promote and protect legal, regulated gaming,” the AGA told Barron’s in a statement.

FanDuel and DraftKings’ departure from the AGA was first reported by The Closing Line.

The two sportsbooks’ expansion into event contracts has cleaved them from another icon of the industry: Las Vegas, Nevada.

Last week, the Nevada Gaming Control Board issued a notice to licensees that FanDuel had surrendered its license in the state and that DraftKings had withdrawn all pending applications submitted to the state’s gambling regulator.

“It has been made clear to the Board that Flutter Entertainment/FanDuel and DraftKings intend to engage in unlawful activities related to sports event contracts,” the regulator said in the notice. “This conduct is incompatible with their ability to participate in Nevada’s gaming industry.”

“We look forward to resuming our Nevada efforts in the future as circumstances allow,” a FanDuel spokesperson said in a statement.

“As part of our ongoing commitment to regulatory compliance, we have withdrawn our inactive application in Nevada,” a DraftKings spokesperson said in a statement.

Neither DraftKings nor FanDuel ever operated their signature digital sportsbooks in the state of Nevada.

Even without the AGA, DraftKings and FanDuel still have power in Washington. The Sports Betting Alliance, another lobbying group, is funded by the two operators.

A spokesperson for the Sports Betting Alliance told Barron’s it hasn’t weighed in on prediction markets, and that its focus is on legalizing sports betting across the country.

Write to Nick Devor at nicholas.devor@barrons.com