Rhode Island lottery opposes daily fantasy sports legalisation

Daily fantasy sports is set for a difficult passage in the Rhode Island state legislature following opposition from the state lottery this week.

The Providence Journal reports that lottery officials have penned a letter to the House Finance Committee arguing that regulation of the vertical would violate the state’s constitution, and that the genre is considered gambling in terms of state law.

Officials claim that state law prohibits betting on “the result of any trial or contest of skill, speed or power of endurance.”

However, the lottery’s interpretation is open to question; in February this year the state Attorney General opined that daily fantasy sports are state-legal because they are game and competitions mainly of skill (see previous report).

A regulatory bill is currently stalled due to “outstanding legal questions.”