robby1 wrote:I have some concern that the aggressive advertising of daily fantasy games is going to arouse unwanted scrutiny from regulator-types. I thought this article (and particularly the lengthy linked Harvard Law Journal article) on the legality of fantasy sports was very interesting.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/marcedelman ... for-money/
Our Lady of Victory pray for us!
Marc Edelman has written a lot of positive stories on the growth of the fantasy sports industry, so it was interesting that he chose the legality issue to write about before this season's NFL opener. There hasn't been a single legislator questioning this space, so it's interesting that a writer would bring it up.
Anyway, as a member of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association's board of directors, I can tell you that one of our top priorities is reaching out to the 6 states that are exempted by some fantasy game operators (including the NFFC) to see if we can get them to understand the industry better. Maryland was a perfect example of where a state legislator brought up a bill that formally said what is needed to allow state residents to play fantasy sports for prize money and the bill was overwhelmingly passed. We have reached out to an Iowa legislator recently who is interested in doing the same thing in that state and hopefully we'll get something enacted there. States like Washington, Arizona and Louisiana will be much harder, but each of them have NFL teams and to think that their state residents AREN'T PLAYING fantasy football in pay leagues is just ludicrous. There's no reason why those states couldn't understand the industry better and write carveout language in their gambling bills to include season-long pay-to-play fantasy games.
As for the legality of season-long fantasy games, we are very fortunate to have carveout language in the 2006 Unlawful Anti-Internet Gambling bill that specifically spells out what you need to do to run a legal fantasy pay-to-play contest. The NFLPA was very helpful in getting this carveout language in this bill and it totally legalizes what we are doing.
Because of the length of the contests, the daily games have always walked that finer line, but the growth of that space is mind boggling. When two companies alone are advertising that they will give out a combined $200 million-plus in prize money this year that will draw attention. It's inevitable.
And I wish Chad and all players who transition more to the daily games best of luck if that's the route they go. Heck, it's a business for some owners and you have to go where the money lies. It seems like the big money season-long games would prepare you for any daily game, but you never know. Either way, you can't fault anyone for finding the best ROI, the best format to win from, the most enjoyable format (if that's even a worthy consideration anymore) or the best players to compete with. Everyone has their own reasons to play where they want and we fully support those decisions. Good luck all.
Now, let's get these last 6 states to understand that this is a growing business that needs the support of all 50 states, not just 44.