Even as ongoing questions about the industry’s uncertain legality were openly acknowledged on the Assembly floor, California’s State Assembly became the first legislative body in the nation to approve a proposed bill to regulate daily fantasy sports, passing it with a 62-1 landslide vote.
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“If Assemblyman Marc Levine wants to vote no on fantasy football, maybe we should be voting no on Marc Levine”, says the ad, which has been running for several days on KNBR, KCBS and KGO radio stations at an estimated cost of $30,000.
A Wisconsin state lawmaker has introduced a bill that would allow online fantasy sports in Wisconsin if site operators register with the state.
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed a lawsuit in December to stop fantasy websites FanDuel and DraftKings from operating in that state, alleging the companies are operating illegal gambling operations.
DrafKings investor and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has said the fantasy leagues “create more interest”, rewarding skill at forecasting the productivity of a roster of individual players, not team results.
A New York Times columnist wrote earlier this month that a “chill has hit the D.F.S. (daily fantasy sports) industry”, noting that prize pools “have been steadily declining”.
“It’s our responsibility as legislators to make sure they’re playing in a safe and regulated game, where people are not being taken advantage of, where identity theft is not going on, where underage children are not playing”, Gray said. “So, I think the bill accomplishes that”.
The Fantasy Sports Trade Association, an organization that promotes the fantasy sports industry, also didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the bill.
“This is a clear message to lawmakers and the attorney general to get out of the way of their train, and they’re going to run over anyone who dares to speak the truth”. For example, he noted that the general counsel for the Georgia State Lottery wrote to the defendants, arguing that the state’s constitution bans gambling except for state lottery activities. Brandon Peck filed the class-action suit in federal court of Portland against the two brands, DraftKings and FanDuel, claiming the companies offered services illegally and the amounts wagered and lost were “wrongfully lost”.
The debate centers on whether the games rely on skill or chance. The industry does not operate in six states where local laws have effectively banned them: Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada and Washington. But she has yet to issue an opinion or discuss fantasy sports publicly.
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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.
