Will North Carolina be next to legalise daily fantasy sports?

North Carolina could be the next (and ninth) US state to legalise daily fantasy sports following the filing this week of HB279 in the state House, authored by Republican Representative Jason Saine.

Saine is a DFS player, and said this week in introducing his proposal:

“This is really permissive legislation. It says regulatory or regulation but it really is a permissive legislative to allow fantasy sports to exist here. The purpose here is to make sure that this bill is enabling, that we can always continue to enjoy daily fantasy sports.”

HB279 proposes that DFS operators must register and pay a fee based on a percentage of GGR, There are consumer protection provisions which include a minimum age limit of 18 years for players, and clauses to ensure that the contests are fair and participants are reasonably evenly matched.

The DFS trade body, Fantasy Sports Trade Association has welcomed the legislation, with chairman Peter Schoenke commenting:

“In some other states, people have been playing these games for years and then suddenly a legislator or an attorney general had an opinion and then they can’t play anymore. We’re trying to make sure that’s not going to happen in North Carolina.”

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