Massachusetts DFS regulations almost ready

Massachusetts is moving apace on its regulations for daily fantasy sports with Attorney General Maura Healey revealing Wednesday that her office will issue final regulations for the daily fantasy sports business at the end of the week… and they will include a ban on contests involving college sports.

Healey told the Boston Globe newspaper that the final regulations will largely mirror a set of draft regulations she issued in November, which have an emphasis on consumer protections (see previous reports).

These include an age limit of 21 years or over, advertising restrictions, and protection against professional players or those employed by DFS operators.

The draft regulations include a proposed $1,000-per-month deposit limit for all players, unless companies can verify that the players can sustain higher losses.

Protection against “shark”players includes a requirement that daily fantasy companies clearly identify professional players by putting symbols next to their names, and offer more contests that are open only to amateur players.

David Klein, a lawyer who represents daily fantasy companies, said Wednesday that he has been pleased with Healey’s overall approach.

“It allows these contests to continue and survive,” he said, although he expressed doubts about the ban on college sports contests.

Major operator DraftKings was also supportive of the state AG, saying that her approach to regulation was “thoughtful”.

“Her willingness to thoroughly understand our new industry in order to ensure the proper consumer protections are in place while also allowing the company to continue to innovate, grow and thrive will be important to our success in Boston,” the DFS operator said in a statement. “We look forward to seeing the final regulations and will work diligently to ensure we are in compliance as soon as possible.”

Our readers will recall that Healey held a public hearing on her draft fantasy sports regulations in January and the industry has been waiting on the final rules from her office.

The Boston Globe notes that Healey has authority to implement the final regulations, and does not need any further sign-off from state lawmakers.