Indiana governor signs DFS bill on the deadline
News on 25 Mar 2016
News on 25 Mar 2016
The US state of Indiana followed the example of Virginia Thursday when Governor Mike Pence signed a daily fantasy sports regulatory bill – bill 339 – into state law on the threshold of a procedural deadline for him to do so.
Our readers will recall that bill 339 sailed through the state House and Senate on votes of 82-12 and 34-10 respectively, leaving the governor with a deadline and three choices: veto the measure, sign it into law, or do nothing and see the bill automatically pass into law when the deadline expires.
The governor chose to sign the bill into law after careful consideration, making Indiana the second state after Virginia to embrace and profit from the booming DFS industry.
Bill 339 takes effect from July 1 his year and will be administered through the newly created Indiana Gaming Commission. However, given drafting and set-up delays it may be some months before a working system is in operation, and until that time the present status quo holds and it will be business as usual for DFS companies accessing the reportedly million-strong DFS player base in the state.
The bill specifically declares that: “Game operators who are operating in Indiana on March 31, 2016, may continue operating until they have received or have been denied a license.”
