Missouri breakthrough on daily fantasy sports

Missouri politicians beat a Friday deadline…just…late Thursday, when the House approved the content of the Senate version of H 1941, a measure seeking to legalise and regulate daily fantasy sports.

The bill was sent back to the House by the Senate to reconcile differences in annual fee proposals (see previous reports) and has now been advanced to Governor Jay Nixon’s desk for signature into state law, making Missouri the sixth US state to legalise DFS.

The annual licence fee language finally agreed provides for the fee to be calculated on the lesser of $10,000 or ten percent of the applicant’s net revenue from Missouri players. This is in addition to tax levied on Missouri net revenue at a rate of 11.5 percent.

Operators will be overseen by the Missouri Gaming Commission, and must agree to pay costs not exceeding $50,000 in respect of any MGC enquiry regarding an operator.

Operators will also be required to submit to annual audits by independent third parties, and agree to segregate player funds from operational monies. They are required to strictly enforce a minimum age limit of 18 years for contestants, and ensure that employees with insider knowledge do not participate in competitions. Operators are also required to establish player dispute channels and responsible gaming precautionary facilities.

DFS competitions may not be based on amateur athletic events, including college sports, and advertising to minors is prohibited.

Finally, operators are required to flag highly experienced players (the sharks of the DFS world) and ban the use of unauthorised “assist” software scripts.

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