Daily fantasy sports legalisation bill stalls in Nebraska

A proposal to legalise daily fantasy sports by defining the genre as a skill game has stalled in the Nebraska Senate after a fierce debate.

The bill – LB 469 – was introduced by state Senator Tyson Larson, who argued that the measure is intended to protect Nebraska consumers by imposing strict requirements on companies that offer online fee-based daily fantasy sports contests for cash pay-outs.

DFS market leaders FanDuel and DraftKings both supported the legislation. The companies estimate that there are around 300,000 DFS fans in Nebraska.

Opposing senators claimed that the bill would take advantage of state citizens and expressed concerns that it introduces what is de facto online gambling. There were also fears that the legislation could lead to problem gambling

Answering the opposition, supporters of the bill pointed out that the US Congress exempted fantasy games that meet certain criteria from the provisions of the 2006 Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, and that the Larson proposal included those criteria.

After three hours of debate the issue remained unresolved, and the senators moved on to other issues without taking a vote. A similar bill sponsored by Larson two years ago failed to get past a filibuster (see previous report).

Under an informal rule intended to save time on floor debates, Larson will have to show that he has a minimum of 33 votes needed to defeat a filibuster before the Speaker will place LB 469 back on the agenda.

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