Gambling stocks drop amid bad signs for college football season

Sports-gambling stocks were slammed Monday morning as the college-football season appeared on its way to cancellation. Draftkings Inc. dropped as much as 10% in morning trading and Penn National Gaming Inc. declined as much as 9.7%, while overseas gambling concerns such as William Hill PLC and Flutter Entertainment PLC -- which owns former Draftkings rival Fanduel -- declined by smaller amounts. The Big 10 conference reportedly voted on Sunday to cancel its college-football season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which would make it the first of the "Power 5" conferences that lead the sport to make the move. One of the next tier of conferences -- the Mid-American Conference, or MAC -- has already publicly announced it will not play football in 2020. Players in another Power 5 conference, the PAC-12, organized earlier to demand better safety protocols and protections, and a separate report Monday morning said the PAC-12 also expects to announce the cancellation of its season Tuesday. Players publicly banded together Sunday evening to state that they wish to play the season, but demanded uniform safety protocols, protections and eventually the formation of a players association.

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