Daily Fantasy Sports Regulation

It seems that over the past 2-3 weeks there has been a ton of negative press for DFS. Whether it be the baseless personal attacks on Ethan Haskell, Nevada coming in with a very conveniently timed banning of DFS in the state, StarsDraft seemingly sabotaging their DFS stake in the industry (or being so cautious as to pull out of states that haven't shown to display any public negativity towards DFS), or Marjor Media outlets running with scandalous claims that had no merit, DFS has taken a beating.

It seems like the dust is settling and I'm hopeful that cooler heads will prevail to bring thoughtful and helpful regulation to DFS. In my personal opinion, DFS is very different than Poker when it comes to government financial concern. In Poker, there were clearly laws being broken with wire fraud and the US government wasn't able to get a grip on the tax situation. Most of the DFS companies are either based in or have Headquarters in the US. These companies are able to be held accountable by US laws (can't say the same for offshore casinos) and DFS companies ensure 1099 forms are filed for players and in turn are doing as much as they can to ensure income taxes are paid on a federal and state level. It gets trickier if DFS were categorized as Gambling, which would complicate the tax code on a state level.

With that said, I created this thread so the DFC community can keep up with the DFS regulation and legislation news. I'll start it off with two news stories:

1. California legislator brought forth a Bill prior to the DraftKings Data Leak - http://wthitv.com/2015/10/27/rep-morrison-to-sponsor-bill-to-regulate-daily-fantasy-sports-sites/

2. NBA's Adam Silver supports regulation and makes a clear distinction on the leagues thoughts of legality - http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/13941819/nba-commissioner-adam-silver-favor-regulation-daily-fantasy-operators

3. Illinois introduces a Bill to Regulate DFS - http://www.wsj.com/articles/illinois-to-introduce-bill-to-regulate-daily-fantasy-sports-1445902199

FanDuel news in detail - https://newsroom.fanduel.com/2015/11/17/response-to-legal-situation-in-new-york/

http://www.mass.gov/ago/consumer-resources/consumer-information/dfs/ link for MA AG ruling. Pro DFS with regulations.

I think this is a very positive step in the right direction. Not too happy about the scripting regulation as we were going to build this into Colossus. I would've liked to see them limit the scripting to the same multi-entry limits they set forth. Also, this could be tough to enforce. Also, why take away late swap? To me this is a way to decrease risk and chance if late injury news comes out. This makes the game more skill than chance. That is strange.

For the most part, I think this is very reasonable and great timing.

Thanks for sharing Zach!

I think people would just be making their lineups 1 hour before kickoff skewing some overlay numbers.

Taking out the late swaps is ridiculous. How can you ever start someone questionable in a late game then? As we saw this week with Lynch, sometimes players are much more questionable than the public realizes. That being said, I'm not even sure what is going on in NY now. I'm having Thanksgiving in NY, so I won't be playing that slate I guess, but I'll probably be back in CT for Sunday's slate. I'm sure CT will follow suit soon enough though if NY does lay down the hammer.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/draftkings-fanduel-lifeline-state-lawmakers-article-1.2459417

Hope this is accurate.

That is huge if it is true.

NY Judge uploads NY AG cease and desist - http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2576937-ny-attorney-general-investigates-daily-fantasy-sports-latest-details-comments

Full Ruling - https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=yS/p3t9HLBAM2iHKjPymJQ==&system=prod

Judge gives DK & FD 30 days to file appeal and stop business in NY. From early indications from DK attorney's it seems they are going to operate as usual and file an emergency appeal.

Good news, Appeal for FD & DK holds up. This will hold true until January when a panel of judges will decide what will happen past that time and throughout the trial.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2015/12/11/draftkings-fanduel-lose-big-ordered-to-shut-down-in-new-york/

Let's hope this sets a precedent - http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article53376325.html

More good news out of NY - http://kdal610.com/news/articles/2016/jan/11/fantasy-sports-companies-win-bid-for-long-term-stay-of-ny-injunction/

Update on the regulation front. A bill passed the Assembly in California by a vote of 62-1. Next up is the Senate. If the bill passes the Senate, it would be a nice win for DFS and hopefully continue to set a positive precedent of thoughtful regulation. There are a number of other states with Bills in the process. A number of Attorney Generals from Hawaii and Texas have some out and said that in their opinion DFS is gambling. While their opinion has no legal significance, it remains to be seen what next action will be taken in these states.

Somewhat unrelated, the payment process for FanDuel & DraftKings has announced they will stop taking payments as of 2/29/16. DK & FD will need to find a new payment processor or fully rely on PayPal. We expect some news in the coming weeks.

https://www.dailyfantasycafe.com/forums/main/virginia-is-1st-state-to-pass-daily-fantasy-sports-contests-operators

Love some Mark Cuban! Hope he's right - http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2016/02/22/fantasy-sports-industry-regulation-popularity-mark-cuban-column/80707312/

http://www.ksat.com/news/texas-attorney-general-reaches-settlement-with-fanduel - FanDuel has announced that Texas Legislators isn't in session all of 2016, so if AG brought lawsuit, FD would be spending money to fight it without having chance of a Bill passing prior to or during lawsuit as is the case in NY. Sounds like this may be the best option in the meantime. They continue to gain free users and then fight it in 2017 in legislation.

DK definitely has some fight in them. Good to see. Looks like it's a request for clarification from Texas courts. Not sure why FD didn't ask for this. Maybe they knew DK would - http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2584456-draftkings-files-lawsuit-in-texas-over-legality-of-daily-fantasy-sports

Unfortunate for the coming months - http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/15033073/draftkings-fanduel-stop-ny-appeal-legislation-pending but likely the smartest move for long-term.

Standing by for NY daily fantasy bill to be passed and put this to rest. Will it happen before the appeal in September? NY Senate breaks in June, so hopefully this can get done before then.

Will they get rid of the proposed $500K fee in the current bill for DFS operators in NY?

Well done Indiana - http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/2016/03/24/daily-fantasy-sports-law-fanduel-draftkings-mike-pence/82205488/

Next stop NY!

Well done Massachusetts - http://www.legalsportsreport.com/9272/massachusetts-fantasy-sports-regulations/ Looks to be the closest and most realistic bill thus far. No fee for operators keeps the smaller players alive and there is some thoughtful regulation here. DraftKings late swap is still available and while some of the deposit limits are strict on high volume players, it looks like the DFS sites will work with players who want to increase their limit.

Sad day for college fans. Looked like this was inevitable after seeing the first few state bills - https://mobile.twitter.com/DavidPurdum/status/715593200845590528