Several states are now looking at passing regulation for daily fantasy sports websites, perhaps because conservatives look at such activity differently than casino gaming and are more willingly to agree to legislation.
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Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., D-N.J., on Monday requested a congressional hearing to examine the relationship between fantasy sports and gambling and evaluate the legal status of fantasy sports. “We have surpassed all previous records set during last year’s football season and everyone at FanDuel is focused on continued growth and driving the daily fantasy industry to new heights”.
The congressman is also playing a local angle: His home state of New Jersey tried to set up a sports book in Atlantic City but was denied after sports leagues sued.
Daily fantasy’s exception seems especially hypocritical on the part of the professional teams and leagues that have invested in these sites while historically opposing legalization of all other forms of sports gambling. “Daily fantasy sports is a skill game and is not considered gambling”.
In total, league operators, many of whom partner with the major leagues themselves, have attracted more than 57 million players in the USA and Canada, according to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA).
Peter Schoenke, president of the FSTA, has called fantasy sports “our country’s new national pastime”. But in 2006, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act created an exception for fantasy sports, defining them not as a game of chance, but a game of skill.
“As more money flows into fantasy sports and the character of the games begin to more closely resemble gambling (rather than an informal social game), the risk of a criminal prosecution heightens”, wrote Daniel Wallach, an attorney with the Fort Lauderdale office of Becker & Poliakoff, in a recent analysis of Florida law. The sites target fans whose teams have not lived up to expectations, or those who perceive the months-long time commitment required for season-long leagues as too burdensome. They stack up their team’s cumulative stats against others teams.
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However, that’s not going to stop a whole lot of people from giving daily fantasy sports a try. Trust us, our lawyers drive very nice cars so that we can keep it that way. His position makes sense, even though he remains alone among his peers in having acknowledged that the modern world is one in which online gambling can’t just be ignored. On Thursday, a bill involving fantasy sports regulation was amended since its introduction in February and is now being pushed by legislators in the state.
