DraftKings is pulling its Pick6 daily fantasy sports (DFS) product from the Maryland market after officials at the Maryland Lottery and Gaming reversed their opinion on the game’s legality. DFS pick ’ems are an increasingly popular, and extremely controversial, new game that critics say pushes the boundary between traditional sports betting and DFS.
In Maryland, gaming officials initially gave Pick6 approval for their gaming market. Maryland Lottery and Gaming spokesperson Seth Elkin summed up the state’s u-turn on Pick6 in a statement reported on by SBC Americas saying, “Maryland’s sports wagering law has a broad definition of wager types that are considered sports wagering as opposed to daily fantasy sports. As a result, there are competitions that may be permitted under the DFS laws and regulations in other jurisdictions, but aren’t permitted here.”
“The sports wagering definition in our law includes single-game bets; teaser bets; parlays; over-unders; moneylines; pools; exchange wagering; in-game wagering; in-play bets; proposition bets; and straight bets. If a competition has any of these components, it’s defined in Maryland as sports wagering and is not permitted as a DFS offering. It can only be made available by a licensed online sports wagering platform or facility,” he concluded.
Though DraftKings is pulling Pick6 from Maryland, the operator is not giving up on pick ’ems entirely. DraftKings is still deploying the product in sixteen markets including Alaska, California, Georgia, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Washington DC, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.