An estimated 300,000 Nebraskans participate in fantasy sports team competition that is largely conducted online with a presumption that the activity does not represent illegal gambling under state law.
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But state legislators have introduced a bill in both the House and Senate that would legalize online fantasy sports contests in light of Hawaii’s growing appetite for legalizing gambling.
That means popular fantasy sports sites like FanDuel and DraftKings are illegal under current state laws, Chin said this week.
“We explained to them how the games are played, we had our internal controls approved, and it wasn’t until just recently that all of a sudden they said, ‘No, ‘ ” he said.
“I don’t think this is something we need to get into at this point”, Loontjer said.
Day 16 of Florida’s 60 day legislative session brings proposals that range from school testing to fantasy sports.
The latter will go into a newly established Fantasy Sports Fund, which will pay for the costs of licensing oversight, consumer protection, state regulation, and other purposes related to the bill.
“On the legal argument, I’m correct”, Levine said Wednesday, “and they want to discredit that argument and take a very strong message to lawmakers and to our attorney general that any of them could be a target of a campaign to discredit them in their districts”.
Long says the state needs to ensure it provides enough resources to help those struggling with gambling addiction. On its website, FanDuel.com, the company contends that fantasy sports received a specific exemption from the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act.
“The constitution is clear”, Levine said.
Industry experts told lawmakers that they do not consider their services as gambling though, since players rely heavily on skill and their knowledge of player statistics to put together winning line-ups. New York’s attorney general sued the two companies, but they are continuing to do business there after a judge’s order in the state’s favor was stayed.
Schoenke said, “Not only do I disagree, but obviously everybody else in the California Assembly disagreed as well, so he’s obviously an outlier”. Last week, DraftKings contributed $5,000 to a ballot measure committee controlled by Gray.
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Most of the 12-member committee agreed to move the bill along, though chairman Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, voted no, saying he was not 100 percent convinced.
