Florida lawmakers to examine legality of daily fantasy sports?
News on 14 Oct 2015
News on 14 Oct 2015
The Florida state legislature could re-examine its position on daily fantasy sports following the high profile furore over the “insider” issue that erupted two weeks ago…and the opportunity for such a review could be the expiration of the current gambling compact with Seminole tribal interests.
The publication Palm Beach Post reports that the end of the current gambling compact with the tribe means that state lawmakers will review the state’s entire gambling picture…and one of Florida’s leading voices in gambling legislation, Republican Sen. Rob Bradley, has already started pushing for a debate on the topic.
Bradley, who chairs the Florida Senate Regulated Industries Committee, told the Miami Herald this week that DFS operators are promoting a product that “…looks a lot like sports betting.”
Our readers will recall that a federal Grand Jury was launched in Florida last week to look into the “insider” allegations surrounding DFS operators DraftKings and FanDuel.
The Post points out that back in 1991 the then-state Attorney General opined that under state law fantasy sports betting was not legal, but that the federal Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act of 2006 specifically excluded fantasy sports from banned online gambling on the principle that fantasy sports betting relies more on skill than chance.
This left the door open to the more immediate daily fantasy sports genre which has proved massively popular, generating billions of dollars…a phenomenon not foreseen in 2006 by Congress.
The Post reports that earlier this year FanDuel, DraftKings and the Fantasy Sports Trade Association started hiring some of the most influential lobbyists in Florida, even though no legislation is currently pending in the state.
