The Nevada Gaming Commission Thursday approved licenses for two casino general managers and the chief financial officer of FanDuel.
Licenses were approved for David Horn of the Durango Resort & Casino in southwest Las Vegas, Ryan Walker of the Legends Bay Casino in Sparks in northern Nevada, and David Jennings, CFO of the FanDuel Group.
Horn, a member of Red Rock Resorts’s executive team, gave the Commission a glowing report about the Durango opening in December.
“Our opening night was incredible, busier than anyone expected and that goes to the top of our company. It was an incredible sight to have that kind of reception and see it continue out through the holidays. Like anything else, you find your way and what normalcy looks like. We’ve seen some of that, but it’s still a very popular place with quite a few people coming in.”
Horn said Durango is different than the usual manner in which casinos are put together, with a lot of natural light and a food hall.
Members of the Commission toured the property and told Horn they were impressed, especially about its open-door concept, lighting, and fit for the surrounding neighborhood.
Walker previously served as general manager of the Tortoise Rock Casino in Twentynine Palms, Calif., and has been in his role at Legends Bay, which opened in August 2022, for about a year. He faced some scrutiny from the Commission over a federal tax liability in excess of $35,000 emanating from a 2021 bonus. Earlier this month, the Gaming Control Board recommended the licensing of Walker with a limited license, but Walker made a full payment to the IRS on Feb. 15.
Walker’s counsel requested the Commission approve the licensing without any limitations and that was granted. He said that with the bonus in addition to his annual salary, he rose in the federal tax bracket and the money wasn’t withheld.
“It was a surprise to me I owed a balance, expecting I was sufficiently withheld,” Walker said. “I wasn’t aware I owed the IRS until 2022, until I filed with my CPA.”
Commissioner Oganna Brown urged Walker to be better prepared in the future, but credited him for making the payment ahead of the meeting to alleviate their concerns.
Commission Chair Jennifer Togliatti said she appreciated Walker that paid the IRS bill in full and it’s important to consider the request to approve the license without limitations.
“I understand how these things happen and how having an amount that wasn’t paid because you went up in the tax bracket or because some people have remarkably difficult tax issues to calculate,” Togliatti said. “My concern was the sentiment of it. ‘No news is good news and I’ll figure out if that’s the proper amount for me.’ You paid it and acknowledged it was the concern of the Board and fellow commissioners. It’s not going to stand in the way of my support, but I want to point out it’s a little bit of an issue for me. We’re the regulators, making sure that this privilege is respected and folks that have this license are the best in our gaming community.”
Brown said it’s disconcerting that the bonus was paid in 2021 and the payment wasn’t made until the week before the Commission meeting.
“These are serious issues and with your leadership position, it’s important to keep your house in order, but it’s not sufficient for me to have a concern going forward that would require a limited licensure,” Brown said. “The caveat has been sufficiently directed to you, so you understand what’s expected of you with a privileged license. I anticipate that there should be no other issues, since you have no other areas of concern for me.”
There was little discussion about the licensing of Jennings, a native of Ireland. His background is in financial services; he was an equity research analyst for 18 years, including covering the gaming sector. He started working at Flutter, FanDuel’s parent company, in 2018 and has been at FanDuel for two years. He resides in Connecticut.
The licensure was required, because FanDuel has a revenue-sharing agreement with Boyd Gaming where it provides branding and betting odds for its sportsbook at the Fremont Hotel Casino in downtown Las Vegas. Boyd holds the license and operates the sportsbook.
FanDuel is licensed in Nevada to provide information Services, which it does to Boyd. It also has a license to
provide technology in Nevada, but has not done so at this time.
One issue was brought up by Commissioner Brian Krolicki, who cited a story about DraftKings and a psychiatrist who tried to quit gambling, but betting apps kept her hooked.
“It talked about responsible gaming and the use of AI and tokens and it was brutal,” Krolicki said. “Can you recommit to your company’s responsible gaming and not to encourage your customers to participate in gaming activities that they wouldn’t normally otherwise do? There’s a fine line between providing entertainment, value, and the joy of it all and coaxing the dark side by encouraging activities that wouldn’t otherwise happen if not for encouragement through mobile activities.”
Jennings said it’s an important topic for FanDuel, which takes responsible gaming seriously on a global basis. He said they’re a leader in the industry in trying to promote responsible gaming.
“We have initiatives to make sure customers are not spending beyond their means and where we detect signs of problematic behavior, we’ll intervene. We’ve set very ambitious targets of what we call ‘tool usage,’ where our customers are encouraged to limit the amount of time on the platform. By 2030, we want 75% of FanDuel customers to be using these tools. We’re well on our way in more mature markets. We understand this industry is only as strong as its weakest operator when it comes to responsible gaming and we’re trying to encourage all of our peers to adopt the same ambitious targets that we have.”
Krolicki said the customer tried to self-limit multiple times and was unsuccessful. “We can’t have this conversation often enough and I appreciate your company’s adherence to ensuring your customers are being entertained and wagering in ways that are comfortable and enjoyable and not beyond their means so it’s personally damaging.”
Jennings couldn’t speak to the particulars of that case, but he insisted that the measures FanDuel has in place are effective.
