21-03-2025
Florida's top gambling regulator became a FanDuel lobbyist. A bill would bar a repeat
As Florida's first gambling regulator, Louis Trombetta took an aggressive approach to fantasy sports betting, driving three upstart companies to shut down their games in the state.
Then he went to work for one of their competitors.
The sudden about-face has raised questions by ethics experts about the revolving door between regulators and the industry – a door one state lawmaker wants to shut behind Trombetta.
A House Republican's bill would close a loophole that allowed Trombetta to accept a job with FanDuel — one of North America's biggest fantasy-sports and betting companies — while working as the Florida Gaming Control Commission's top regulator. HB 1467 would expand the state's lobbying ban to explicitly state that Florida's gambling regulator cannot work for fantasy sports companies for two years after leaving the post.
Rep. John Snyder, a Palm City Republican, said his bill — which would also more formally legalize and regulate fantasy sports in Florida — wasn't necessarily in reaction to Trombetta's move. Instead, it was about 'fairness in the marketplace.'
'Any time you have a regulator in a position to make significant decisions on the industry, I think it's important they sit on the bench for a little bit before they get back into it,' Snyder said.
Trombetta did not respond to a request for comment. FanDuel noted that Trombetta took steps to eliminate his access to sensitive regulatory data after accepting an offer to work for the company, and said that they are not regulated by the Florida Gaming Control Commission because the games they offer in Florida are not considered gambling.
'FanDuel is not a sports betting or iGaming license holder in the state of Florida and is not subject to regulatory oversight by the Florida Gaming Control Commission,' a company spokesperson said in a statement. They added that 'FanDuel has no comment on the regulatory actions the state of Florida may have taken involving other companies.'
Trombetta, a gambling lawyer, was chosen as Florida's first executive director of the state's new Gaming Control Commission in March 2022. The Commission was created to enforce gambling laws and restrictions in Florida after Gov. Ron DeSantis' new agreement with the Seminole Tribe — called a compact — giving the Tribe exclusive rights to offer sports betting in Florida.
That compact had a carveout for fantasy sports 'contests,' a rapidly-evolving industry that has rivaled sports betting in popularity. Unlike sports betting, in which a player bets on the outcome of a game against the casino, fantasy sports players have traditionally competed with each other to pick the best-performing roster of athletes in any particular sport over a period of time.
Because of that difference, fantasy sports — which according to one study is projected to grow to $59.63 billion by 2029, in part due to its 'enhanced user engagement features' and 'gamification' — has been described as a game of skill, like poker, instead of luck.
But the fantasy sports industry has changed dramatically as states across the country legalize gambling. Fantasy platforms started allowing players to bet on multiple game outcomes and players' performances at the same time — similar to sports parlays offered at casinos. And if the players lose, the platform keeps the money, much like a casino.
A spokesperson for the Seminole Tribe told the Herald/Times these new games were encroaching on their exclusive gambling agreement with the state. The compact generally gives the Tribe exclusive rights over casino-style games where the 'house' backs the games and wins a profit from them.
Trombetta targeted three companies that began offering those casino-like games in Florida: PrizePicks, Underdog, and Betr. But he didn't make a distinction between them and the traditional fantasy contests in the cease-and-desist letters he issued in 2023. Rather, he told the companies that any and all fantasy gaming outside of the compact was illegal and threatened them with jail time.
'Under Florida law, betting or wagering on the result of contests of skill, such as sports betting, including fantasy sports betting, is strictly prohibited and constitutes a felony offense unless such activity is otherwise exempted by statute,' Trombetta wrote in the letters.
Florida gambling and ethics expert Bob Jarvis similarly said all fantasy sports betting is illegal in Florida.
'Florida is one of the few jurisdictions that says that betting on a game, even if it is a game that involves skill (as opposed to chance), is illegal,' Jarvis, a law professor at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, wrote in an email.
Trombetta never sent cease and desist letters to the two giants in the sports betting industry: FanDuel and DraftKings. Both companies offer fantasy sports betting in Florida, although not the parlay-style system offered by the three upstarts. There is no evidence to suggest the Gaming Commission intends to take action to shut down any of the fantasy games currently offered in Florida, though the Commission's own website suggests the games operate in a legal gray area.
Trombetta — whose position afforded him access to confidential data, criminal investigative information and trade secrets — resigned from the gaming commission in December 2024 and went to lobby for FanDuel later that month as their director of government relations.
His decision not to send letters to FanDuel and DraftKings raised eyebrows at the time. Three days after receiving his company's cease and desist letter, Underdog Founder and CEO Jeremy Levine pointed out the inconsistency on the platform X. He posted emails showing his general counsel followed up with the commission, which reiterated that all paid fantasy contests were illegal.
The Florida Gaming Control Commission did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Sen. Joe Gruters, a Sarasota Republican, also wrote to Trombetta in 2023 asking why the two largest fantasy sports operators were excluded from the commission's enforcement.
'I am concerned that the Commission is applying an interpretation that is not supported by law and that the Commission may be selectively enforcing its interpretation,' Gruters wrote.
Gruters said he later spoke to Trombetta, who assured him that cease-and-desist letters would also be sent to DraftKings and FanDuel, News Service of Florida reported at the time. Those letters were never sent. Gruters told the Herald/Times last week that he wasn't aware that Trombetta had taken a job lobbying for FanDuel. He wasn't surprised.
'Makes sense,' Gruters said.
The FanDuel spokesperson said a 'publicly posted search' led to Trombetta's hiring, and said he voluntarily filed a public disclosure on Nov. 15 transferring the responsibility for managing confidential information to a deputy director, 'eliminating any potential concerns about the important ongoing work of the Commission.'
After Trombetta's cease-and-desist letters, PrizePicks, Underdog and Betr stopped offering their more innovative parlay games. They restarted their platforms to offer more traditional fantasy sports betting similar to FanDuel and DraftKings.
Trombetta's move 'raises long-troubling issues with respect to potential conflicts of interest, risks of regulatory capture, and opportunities to misuse a public position to secure personal benefit,' Michael Klein, an ethics and law expert at the University of Miami School of Law, wrote in an email.
But Jarvis, the gambling law and ethics expert, said he was not surprised or even bothered by Trombetta's quick move to FanDuel. The new Florida gaming commission is going through common 'growing pains.'
'Does this look bad? Yeah, it looks bad,' said Jarvis in an interview. 'But is this shocking? Is it surprising? Is it the first time it's ever happened? No, no and no.'
He added: 'Maybe I'm just too jaded because I've seen this so many times.'
