U.S. baseball chief defends fantasy sports

The troubled fantasy sports vertical received some support from an important source Monday when Major League Baseball’s commissioner Rob Manfred told the New York Daily News that he had no regrets about supporting fantasy sports, opining:

“I think that fantasy is an important source of fan engagement, it has been for a long time.”

The baseball chief also reiterated his belief that daily fantasy sports is not a form of gambling, observing:

“We did thoroughly investigate the games that were available on the site, that was a major factor in terms of selecting a partner in the fantasy space. And we were completely comfortable with the idea that those games were consistent with the existing federal law. I’m quite convinced it is a game of skill, as defined by the federal statute.” Manfred said. “And I’m comfortable with the idea that it’s not gambling.

“There’s a huge difference between Rob Manfred, citizen, betting on whether Kansas City beats Toronto or whomever on the one hand, and Rob Manfred picking nine guys off 18 teams to try to see if he can accumulate more points within a given set of guidelines than a hundred guys trying to do the same thing.”

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