On October 17th, the Atlantis Gaming Corporation sent out a press release announcing they were preparing a new online gaming network that included daily fantasy sports. In the release, it stated that the network had been approved by two federal agencies and would be live sometime in early 2017. However, the National Indian Gaming Commission (NIGC) announced they had not provided such approval. Now, the company is citing a 2009 legal opinion of the commission as a way to state the network was approved.

In the press release, the Atlantis Gaming Corporation claimed they would be launching the first ‘federally approved online betting and DFS platform’ and are currently the only legal platform online for daily fantasy sports, online poker and other casino games.

Soon after the press release was sent out by the Atlantis Gaming Corporation, the NIGC issued their own press release. The commission stated that they had received several inquiries about the release by the Atlantis Gaming Corporation and they wanted to reiterate that the commission had not approved online gaming or daily fantasy sports for any entity, despite the claims of the company.

The National Indian Gaming Commission stated in their release that the commission was not part of the approval process that the AGC claimed and they felt it was important to clarify this position. Now, the AGC is coming forward acknowledging that they were not approved by the NIGC but they have also issued another press release that says their Casino Gateway Network was deemed legal as far back as 2009.

In September of 2009, the NIGC did issue a legal opinion that concluded the Casino Gateway Network is not an online gaming system. This is due to the fact that the network connects tribal casinos to one another. Earlier that same year, the NIGC issued Bulletin 2009-3 which clarified that the inter-tribal networks are not prohibited by the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. Systems such as networks used for progressive jackpots or multi-site bingo games predate the law.

In a newer press release, the Atlantis Gaming Corporation stated that as stated in the legal opinion from 2009, ‘the Network is a Virtual Private Network and acts like a Wide Area Progressive, featuring multiple vendors’ casino games, with the capacity to link one Indian casino to another, in 28 states on Indian lands.’

Atlantis has revealed that two tribes are currently using the Casino Gateway Network to offer social games at their gaming facilities, one being in Louisiana and one in the state of Nevada. Daily fantasy sports would be offered by next year.

The National Indian Gaming Commission has noted that their legal opinions are advisory in nature and should not be considered agency action, not an actual decision made by the agency.