Indiana senate votes to regulate and licence daily fantasy sports

Indiana senators have joined their Vermont counterparts (see previous report) in approving a bill seeking to regulate and licence intrastate daily fantasy sports.

Local newspaper The Journal Gazette reports that SB339 was progressed through the Senate by 34 votes to 10 Friday, and having already passed the House the measure now heads to Governor Mike Pence’s desk.

SB339 specifically declares that DFS does not constitute gambling in terms of state law, and imposes fees of $50,000 initially and $5,000 each year, payable to the Indiana Gaming Commission.

The bill also contains provisions ensuring consumer protection, age verification, pre-determined prizes, independent audits of the companies and a ban on company employees playing.

DraftKings PR chief Griffin Finan issued a presser late Friday thanking Indiana lawmakers for their support and commenting:

“We look forward to continuing our dialogue with legislatures across the country to put in place a regulatory framework with thoughtful and appropriate consumer protections for fantasy sports players.”

However, the fee structure did not please everyone, with Dave Gerczak, co-founder of the Fantasy Football Players Championship, subsequently observing that the requirement will put his season-long paid fantasy site out of business in Indiana.

Gerczak said his company and other smaller fantasy sports sites had been assured by their trade association that there would be some sort of grandfather clause for existing companies or entities below a certain size, but this had not materialised in the bill

“As of seven days ago was the first time we actually realized we were getting screwed,” he said.