Interesting article re fantasy sports/law

[robby1]

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!

[Cocktails and Dreams]

This has concerned me quite a bit. As a guy that is planning to transition from so many full season to a probably ridiculous amount of daily contests, I have some concerns regarding the bubble being popped on these daily contests. While I believe it is skill based over time for sure, it can be a bit random on any given day. If it is deemed illegal are these daily companies going to have the money to pay everyone their balances if tomorrow the bubble bursts? With all this aggressive advertising, I sometimes wonder. And will they do the right thing even if they do have it? Some things to consider for sure.

And regarding the full season games, there is probably a pretty good chance its bubble would burst along with the daily games. The hope I have is that the government makes money on the winnings from fantasy football. The daily places are required to send 1099's also(albeit they do it based on profit, not like NFFC etc, which begs the question on why they can but NFFC cannot). In any event, they are getting taxes. Much different than telling us we cannot place an offshore sportsbet, yet they somehow think it is fine for Keno to be legal so people can ruin their lives getting addicted to that and hanging out in bars instead.

[Sandman62]

I'm not a lawyer, but it sure seems like a pretty gray area. I'm probably missing something, but I'm surprised of this lawyer's interpretation.

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 includes an explicit carve-out for fantasy sports games that meet three criteria:

(1) the value of the prizes is not determined by the number of participants or the amount of fees paid;
Strike one. The bigger the entry fee, the bigger the prize.

(2) all winning outcomes reflect the relative knowledge and skill of the participants;
Without stirring up the ol' "luck vs. skill" debate, I think we've seen enough examples of good and bad luck affecting outcomes enough to question how we even determine "skill".

(3) the fantasy game’s result is not based on the final scores of any real-world games.
Pretty much ALL leagues have DSTs and their points are directly based on final scores.

Based on this language, most traditional versions of fantasy football seem to comply with federal law.
I sure hope all lawyers and lawmakers involved in this continue to interpret it this way - or continue to not pay attention. But I do think it can be interpreted either way.

[particra]

I wouldn't be worried about any kind of federal effort to ban it. I could see things happening on the state level. But I have no doubt that the bubble will burst on the daily games. Just keep withdrawing.

[BLACKHAND]

i think that the upcoming elections have these politicians talking garbage. daily games in the future might be in trouble but the hs national games will be fine. don't underestimate the power of the nfl. do you think for one second that the nfl wants fantsy football to go away. NOT FOR A SECOND. even the government gets there sticky fingers on it by taxing us to death. they also know this can't be stopped as it would be very simple if we had to run are leagues as underground leagues. easy to do so as we got to know each other enough to trust each other to do this underground if we had to and the government would get nothing. they want there cut. so as long as they get it, it's all talk.

[robby1]

I remember back in the day when offshore was largely under the public radar and some of the sites were great (head to head props on Nascar racing - what could be better to pass the time?). But then they started putting up billboards and taking every third ad on sports radio. Well, what a surprise when some kid uses his father's credit card and loses money and some guy gets stiffed by a third rate book, and the stories come out in the press. The horror!

I just hope it doesn't happen again since I really enjoy what we have now. Smaller is probably better.

[KenGill]

Blackhand --- exactly right. The NFL would never allow fantasy football to go away as many of their best fans are fantasy players.

And as for the government, don't they have better things to be worrying about -- like the 16 Trillion $ in debt we have accumulated. Seems to be a bigger problem to me than fantasy football. But that's me.

[Diesel]

Cocktails and Dreams, I'm curious...If you've said you believe there is more luck in daily games, why would you be considering a jump into them and lessen your load on full season leagues?

Sandman, I'm not a lawyer, but I can see a good lawyer interpreting the score allowed by a defense is not defined as a "final game score" and only an amount of points that one defense allowed. I think we are safe here. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

[Cocktails and Dreams]

Cocktails and Dreams, I'm curious...If you've said you believe there is more luck in daily games, why would you be considering a jump into them and lessen your load on full season leagues?

Sandman, I'm not a lawyer, but I can see a good lawyer interpreting the score allowed by a defense is not defined as a "final game score" and only an amount of points that one defense allowed. I think we are safe here. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Maybe I didn't word it correctly. I feel in the very short run(one day in baseball, or a weekend in football) it can be a bit of a crapshoot. Lets face it the shorter the time frame the more random things can happen. However, over the long haul the person setting the best lineups consistently will come out ahead. Sort of like full season fantasy sports on crack. There is a reason guys like Steve Jupinka, Lindy Hinkelman and many others consistently finish up near the top of baseball. And there are several hundred incredible fantasy football players in the high stakes world not to mention the lower stakes. For those that play poker, I would equate it to that in a sense. Takes some good fortune typically to win a big tournament if the field is solid. However, over time the best player will do just fine.

[Cocktails and Dreams]

Another reason for the likely change in football and certainly in baseball is I hate free agency so much:) Maybe I will just do a few hundred cut lines instead:)