Tennessee House advances daily fantasy sports bill

Less than a week after Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery issued an opinion that fantasy sports are “illegal gambling,” in state law (see previous  reports) a House committee has progressed a bill, HB2105, that would legalise the activity.

The Tennessean reports that the House finance subcommittee on Monday approved a measure that would tax companies, such as DraftKings and FanDuel, while also formally allowing the competitions to flourish in Tennessee.

In his opinion, released last week, Slatery said the state’s law says any action where someone risks something of value and that risk is based on chance, is considered gambling.

Slatery did, however, note that lawmakers could change the state’s law…and they have embarked on a course to do exactly that.

The House debate was not without drama; at one point Rep. David Alexander suggested the chairman of the committee get a law enforcement official to arrest proponents of the measure for “breaking the law and promoting gambling.”

Responding, fellow Republican lawmaker Rep. Curry Todd said the suggestion was “asinine.”

After hearing from the committee’s legal counsel, who assured the committee that merely discussing a proposal did not constitute the crime of soliciting gambling, the committee ultimately approved the measure, sending it to the full Finance, Ways & Means Committee for further scrutiny today (Tuesday).

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