Regulating daily fantasy sports is included in the city of Dubuque, Iowa’s 2018 Legislative Priorities List. City lawmakers hope state legislators will attempt to pass a bill legalizing DFS when the legislature convenes in January.
Assistant City Manager Teri Goodmann said regulating DFS would generate additional revenue for Dubuque and for the state. “The benefit for us as a city but also as a state is that some of these revenues are shared with the licensed gaming institutions around the state and then that of course comes back and benefits citizens,” she said.
Goodmann noted DFS should be regulated just like casino gambling in Iowa. She said, “We don’t think we should let one gaming entity not be regulated while the rest are. There’s just no fairness there.”
Q Casino President Jesus Aviles said legalizing DFS would hurt existing casinos because it would create more competition and do nothing to benefit Iowa communities. “They’ll play online, there will be no infrastructure addition to the state, they won’t hire many people because it’s done via the internet, the proceeds will go to these companies,” Aviles said.
He also expressed concern over the extent of DFS regulation. “We go through a rigorous investigation by the commission, by the IRS to get our license to operate. We don’t know who’s behind computer number one or computer number two,” Aviles said.
