Massachusetts senator to go back to the drawing board on daily fantasy sports

Massachusetts state Senator Eileen Donoghue has potentially thrown a spanner in the daily fantasy sports legalisation works in Massachusetts by successfully introducing an amendment to the state budget bill that calls for the appointment of a commission to further study the implications of legalised daily fantasy sports and online gambling.

Our readers will recall that earlier this year Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healy issued regulations for DFS, although little progress has been apparent since then in legislative terms.

However, the Massachusetts State Senate recently submitted its budget recommendations for 2017, and among them was the amendment from Sen. Donoghue, calling for the creation of a special commission to carry out “a comprehensive study” of the regulation of daily fantasy sports and online gaming…specifically regarding “taxation, legal and regulatory structures.”

Explaining the need for the study, Donoghue said in a press statement: “The daily fantasy sports industry is here to stay, but questions remain about its impact on the commonwealth and about other new forms in Internet gaming. This commission will answer those questions and provide the additional clarity that businesses, regulators, and consumers need.”

The statement notes that the amendment requires the commission to meet before October 1 this year, with its recommendations submitted by March 1 2017. The state lottery is expressly excluded from the commission’s mandate, which observers note may be association with the lottery management’s desire to expand into the online environment to avoid revenue stagnating.

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