Following Boyd Gaming’s announcement Thursday that it agreed to sell its 5 percent ownership stake in FanDuel for almost $1.76 billion, experts believe it’s now even more unlikely that one of the nation’s leading sports betting providers will set up shop in Nevada anytime soon. 

FanDuel and DraftKings account for a combined 71 percent of all sports wagers in the U.S., according to data from Casino Reports. But those bets were all placed outside of the Silver State.

The companies haven’t entered Nevada because of regulations that require a customer to register in-person at a casino for a mobile sports betting account. With Boyd and FanDuel parting ways, neither of the mobile sports betting giants has a casino partner.

The Las Vegas-based Boyd operates the sportsbooks at its casinos under its Boyd Sports subsidiary, including the book at the Fremont Hotel and Casino, which was rebranded as FanDuel in 2023.

Along with other gaming operators, Boyd has long opposed removing the state’s in-person registration requirement because of the investments made into its brick and mortar sportsbooks and fears that online betting would cannibalize in-person business.

Las Vegas-based gaming consultant Brendan Bussmann said there is no appetite in Nevada for changing the in-person registration regulation, keeping FanDuel and DraftKings away unless either were to find a casino partner.

Smaller sportsbook operators have found ways to flourish in Nevada. Circa Sports, which is based at the Circa Casino Resort, has satellite sportsbooks in smaller casinos statewide that serve as sign-up locations for mobile sports betting. 

Boyd acquired its 5 percent interest in FanDuel in August 2018 for an undisclosed price, four months after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowed states to legalize sports betting. The partnership helped Boyd pursue in-person sports betting at casinos outside of Nevada, as well as online gaming opportunities in those other states. 

As sports betting expanded to nearly 40 states, Boyd and FanDuel launched retail sportsbooks and mobile betting operations at Boyd casinos in Iowa, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana and Pennsylvania. 

“Boyd’s early partnership with FanDuel for market access has paid dividends for both companies,” Bussmann said. “Boyd has benefited not only from this sale but having FanDuel at its facilities. FanDuel has been allowed into some of these early markets that it might have had other challenges getting into.”

The deal is expected to close by the end of September. It will take until mid-2026 for FanDuel to unwind itself from the sportsbooks, which will then fall under the Boyd Sports brand. However, FanDuel will retain online market access in states other than Nevada through new financial agreements with Boyd that will be extended to 2038.

Boyd never disclosed how much it paid for its FanDuel stake. The sportsbook operator was acquired that same year by Dublin, Ireland-based Flutter, which said in a statement Thursday that the transaction values FanDuel at $31 billion. Through FanDuel, Flutter reported $5.79 billion in digital sports betting revenue in 2024, the highest in the U.S.

In 2024, Nevada ranked 7th in the U.S. for sports wagering revenue, with sportsbooks taking in $7.9 billion that year. Once the nation’s only state with legal sports betting, Nevada has been passed by New York, Illinois, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Arizona — states where DraftKings and FanDuel operate predominantly online.

Stifel Financial gaming analyst Steven Wieczynski wrote in a research note late Thursday that it was long expected Boyd would sell its FanDuel ownership, but he was surprised at the timing.

“Whatever way you slice it, this is a clear positive for Boyd,” Wiesczynski wrote. “We believe Flutter and Boyd came together and agreed that now was the time to make this transaction happen.”

In a statement, Boyd CEO Keith Smith said the transaction puts Boyd in a significantly stronger financial position to continue executing our strategy of investing in our properties [and] pursuing growth opportunities.”

Smith said the company would use transaction proceeds to pay down a portion of its $3.5 billion in long-term debt. Boyd has been upgrading its casinos throughout the U.S. and in Las Vegas, where it’s remodeling The Orleans, Gold Coast and Suncoast, including converting the Summerlin property’s showroom into a 10,500-square-foot Boyd sportsbook.

Boyd is also building a $750 million casino-resort in Norfolk, Virginia.

“So, what comes next? We don’t believe Boyd did this transaction as a first step toward buying something else,” Wieczynski wrote.

Citizens Bank gaming analyst Jordan Bender, however, speculated that selling its FanDuel stake would encourage talks of Boyd acquiring Penn Entertainment, which operates 43 casinos in 21 states, including M Resort in Henderson and two casinos in Jackpot.

“A merger between the two companies would be complex,” Bender wrote in a research note, given the involvement of real estate investment trust Gaming and Leisure Properties, which has current deals with both companies.