Indiana & Virginia Residents: Welcome To The NFFC!!

[Greg Ambrosius]

We heard from the Indiana Gaming Commission today and they have received our application and fee for a license in their state. The Gaming Commission doesn't have another meeting until the end of September, so no new licenses will be issued before then. But we have been given the okay to run our business during the application review process and we fully expect to receive our license officially when given clearance by the gaming commission. Other contests must stop taking signups after July 1st if they haven't applied for a fantasy license by then.

We are committed to this industry long-term and you can see that by our applications in New York, Tennessee, Missouri, Indiana, Virginia and other states. Other high-stakes contests are exempting the states of Indiana and Virginia, but we are committed to both states this year and long-term. CDM Fantasy Sports and the other titles at SportsHub Technologies are all part of this license.

As of now, we are the only high-stakes season-long game approved by the state of Indiana. I hope others follow suit as it's good for the industry, but if not we'll happily serve the Hoosier residents!! Glad we could stay in Indiana and welcome to anyone from the state who is looking for a new game.

Thanks all. Now Let The Games Begin!!

[Route C]

That's awesome Greg! As far as I know the NFFC is the only contest to make Indiana a priority. Thanks for being THE industry leader in the Hoosier state

[Greg Ambrosius]

That's awesome Greg! As far as I know the NFFC is the only contest to make Indiana a priority. Thanks for being THE industry leader in the Hoosier state

Part of the licensing fee is that all Indiana residents MUST buy me or Tom a Corona at the live drafts!!

Thanks Jeff. SportsHub made this happen, so be ready for even more good stuff coming forward.

[BillyWaz]

Awesome news, Greg!

When I see this news for Virginia, I will definitely be celebrating!

Much respect to you "finding a way" for the "idiot states" to get an opportunity to play!

[Big Cheese]

Greg (and Tom), This is fantastic news, and a bit of a relief also. I can't imagine a future without having draft season and season long competition (specifically in the NFFC) to look forward to. I really do appreciate your efforts to get this done, as well as your commitment to each of the states impacted by this. I look forward to playing in the NFFC for many years to come.

[RedRyder]

Congrats on good news for the NFFC and all my Hoosier friends!

[Sabretooth]

Great news!!!!

[Greg Ambrosius]

So I don't have any new update on the state of Virginia today, other than to say that we are progressing toward a license and we hope that this can be finalized soon. Unlike Indiana, we haven't gotten the go ahead yet to take signups while the state is processing our application, but we have asked for that and hopefully we will get that soon. We got all of the paperwork to the state later than we did with Indiana, so this takes time. Hopefully we'll have good news soon and open Registration to Virginia residents soon.

Stay tuned. We are on it.

[Greg Ambrosius]

This season of signups has been an eye opener for all of us veterans in the industry. We are working with CDM on the Location Verifier and Age Verifier software required by several states and obviously it adds another layer of confusion for the consumer. No matter how well we install this software, the user still has a tougher experience just going to their team pages and getting a Registration to go through.

It's not something any of us asked for, but it's been brought on by the new DFS state laws. And every state is different, so you have to program Registration with every state in mind.

For instance, this week we learned that Tennessee has set monthly spending limits at $2,500 per customer. This is obviously designed for DFS, but it pertains to season-long fantasy games as well. So Tennessee residents can't spend more than $2,500 per month with us unless they prove that the limits can be raised. Here's the state law:

"(1) Limits individual player deposits to no more than $2,500 per month, unless the player provides reasonable certification or proof to the fantasy sports operator that the player's deposit limit should be increased; protects player funds on deposit by, at a minimum, segregating player funds from operating funds and maintaining a reserve for the benefit and protection of authorized players' funds in fantasy sports accounts; and limits each player to one active and continuously used account."

1360-03-05-.07 PLAYER ACCOUNT ACTIVITY (PAGE 12)
(1) Amount of Monthly Deposits. No player shall be permitted to deposit more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500), of cash or a cash equivalent, per month with a fantasy sports operator unless the player demonstrates that he or she should be entitled to increase its monthly deposit limits in accordance with these rules and the published rules of the fantasy sports operator.

(a) No player shall be granted an increase in his or her deposit limit prior to verification of their identity in accordance with these rules.

(b) No player who is classified as a beginning player shall be allowed to request an increase in their deposit limit.

(c) In order to be eligible for a deposit limit increase, a player must demonstrate, to the fantasy sports operator’s reasonable satisfaction, that he or she qualifies for an increase under policies and procedures established by the fantasy sports operator, based on the player’s annual income or net worth.

(d) Fantasy sports operators shall establish and publish reasonable procedures for increasing a player’s deposit limit, but in no circumstances shall such deposit limits be increased unless the player has an annual income of more than $150,000 (or $300,000 jointly with a spouse) or financial net worth greater than $500,000, calculated as follows: (THE REST can be read on the attached file. Pages 12-17)

I believe Maryland has similar language but at $1,000 per month. Seems crazy that the states are telling residents how much of their discretionary income they can spend on hobbies or even second jobs, but that's what we're dealing with today.

Oh, one catch: The spending limit is for signups made within the state. If you happen to visit Nashville, you also can't sign up for more than $2,500 worth of games while in the state. Now if you are a Tennessee resident and sign up for anything outside of the state it doesn't count towards the spending limit. So you can be in Las Vegas and add more contests and still be okay according to the Tennessee state laws. The state is obviously trying to capitalize on DFS signups while folks are visiting their state on vacation. Just something to remember.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. We are doing our best to understand all of these state laws and obviously be compliant everywhere. We hope everyone in the industry is doing the same thing. Thanks all and best of luck.

[Greg Ambrosius]

I hate to create a political thread, but doesn't it seem odd that some state governments are telling folks how much they can spend on fantasy sports? I mean, either you make something legal because you believe in it or you make it illegal for the reasons you object to. But how do you make it legal with spending restrictions?

Do any states limit how many lottery tickets you can buy? Last I looked every state pushed the Powerball numbers and encouraged low income folks to reach for the moon with more tickets.

Do any states limit how much you can spend on the legalized slot machines? Or limit how much you can spend on blackjack?

Do any states limit how much alcohol you can purchase? How many deadly packs of cigarettes you can buy?

I understand that states don't want their residents using a smartphone and spending unlimited amounts on a daily fantasy game, but I think those who pass the laws should look all games before corralling all of them with the same rope. Not everyone has the same discretionary income levels, so why is there the same limits? Not every game is the same, so if legal why the same limits?

Again, I don't want to get political here, but I don't think everyone has thought this completely through. Hopefully we'll have more dialogue with legislators going forward and fine tune laws that are in place and those laws that are forthcoming. We all want good consumer protection and smart, safe games, but there is a better way. Hope we get it done.