Draftkings Launches Political Action Committee to Defend Bookmakers’ Interests in the U.S.

^{Pictured: Jason Robins, CEO of DraftKings}

American sportsbook operator DraftKings has filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to establish a corporate Political Action Committee (PAC), according to Gambling News.

The goal of the PAC is to support political figures and organizations at both the state and federal levels whose decisions and initiatives directly impact the betting business.

By launching this PAC, DraftKings aims to influence decisions that often do not favor the sports betting sector. For instance, the state of Illinois recently introduced a new tax on player wagers. Bookmakers were not even informed in advance about the proposal to implement this tax.

Specifically, Illinois sportsbooks are now required to collect a $0.25 fee on each of the first 20,000 online bets placed annually. After surpassing this threshold, the fee increases to $0.50 per wager.

In addition to tax-related issues, there are other unresolved problems that DraftKings hopes to address. One such issue is the legality of prediction markets, which are banned in many U.S. states. It’s no secret that DraftKings is planning to enter this market.