Less than a month after rolling out in Maryland, DraftKings Pick6 is shutting down.
Other operators with pick’em-style fantasy contests have steered clear of the state in recent years, but DraftKings included Maryland in the initial six-state rollout of its new pick’em fantasy product.
Maryland Lottery and Gaming confirmed that, though they initially approved the game, they have since concluded it violates state regulations.
“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,” explained Maryland Lottery and Gaming spokesperson Seth Elkin.
“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 added.
DraftKings sent out communication to Maryland DFS players letting them know that Pick6 will be unavailable from Dec. 21 onward.
“DraftKings is no longer offering Pick6 in Maryland. Affected Maryland customers will have Pick6 credits converted to cash in the next 48 hours,” a DraftKings spokesperson told SBC Americas.
In the meantime, DraftKings Peer-to-Peer Gaming Director Jon Aguiar has been posting about the game’s expansion to other states via Twitter. According to his feed, the following states now offer Pick6:
- Alaska
- California
- Georgia
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New Mexico
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Utah
- Washington DC
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
One of the most recent additions, California, could be reassessing fantasy sports in the state. Sen. Scott Wilk asked the state Attorney General to look into the issue last month and issue an opinion.
