Daily fantasy sports legislation is moving forward in Alabama but stalled in Texas and Florida.
In Alabama, the Senate Tourism and Marketing Committee approved a bill that would require daily fantasy sports operators to register with the state attorney general’s office and to pay a registration fee. In addition, operators would have to pay an annual assessment of 6 percent of gross revenue, which would be directed to the state general fund.
Also the bill requires that players be at least 19 years old and operators may not include college, high school or youth sports games. The state attorney general’s office would adopt rules and regulations for the games.
The House passed the bill by a 43-38 vote on April 18.
In Texas, state Rep. Richard Raymond said legislation he sponsored to legalize DraftKings and FanDuel and other fantasy sports operators would not make it to the House floor. “I believe in miracles, but this is a Hail Mary that will be difficult to complete. It’s a shame because the bill had bipartisan support,” Raymond said, adding he’ll file another bill in the 2019 legislative session.
State Attorney General Ken Paxton’s previous non-binding opinion stated legalizing fantasy sports in Texas would require a constitutional amendment. He said fantasy sports are not legal skill-based games, as operators claim, and stated it is “beyond reasonable dispute that daily fantasy leagues involve an element of chance regarding how a selected player will perform on game day. Paid daily fantasy sports operators claim they can legally operate as an unregulated house, but none of their arguments square with existing Texas law. Simply put, it is prohibited gambling in Texas if you bet on the performance of a participant in a sporting event and the house takes a cut.”
Raymond, supporters of the legislation and players said fantasy sports is not a game of chance and would not be an expansion of gambling.
In Florida, a wide-ranging gambling bill failed to pass, leaving daily fantasy sports among the wreckage. In the final moments of the legislative session which ended May 6, the Florida House rejected a proposal that fantasy sports are legal and therefore not subject to regulation. Earlier in the week the Florida Senate had added the provision to a bill repealing state regulation of several different types of jobs. As a result, the Florida Legislature won’t reconsider fantasy sports until next year.
In 1991 the state attorney general issued an opinion that football fantasy leagues were a form of illegal gambling. However, fantasy sports leagues have continued to expand since then, including the introduction of daily fantasy leagues.
