The North Carolina House Commerce Committee recently approved a measure to regulate fantasy sports games. State Rep. Harry Warren, chief co-sponsor of the bill, said games operated by FanDuel, DraftKings and others are “going on, and with or without this bill it’ll continue to go on. This bill would create a commission that would actually regulate it.”
Attorney Sean Ostrow, representing DraftKings, FanDuel, the National Football League, the Professional Golf Association Tour and the Major League Baseball commissioner’s office, added, “Fantasy sports is happening all over the country. It makes sense to have some consumer protections and guardrails around it.”
The measure would create a new state gaming commission that, in addition to fantasy sports, would oversee the state lottery, bingo, raffles and boxing. Currently these activities are regulated by separate lottery and boxing commissions and state law enforcement agencies.
The bill also would direct the new commission to study sporting betting, online lottery games and steeplechase race regulations.
State Senator Deb Butler said she would support the fantasy sports measure if it included taxing a portion of revenues and setting aside more money to address problem gambling. Warren responded that would be taken into consideration.
The bill must clear three more committees before reaching the House floor. If it’s approved, it would move to the state Senate.
In 2017, a fantasy sports bill failed, in part due to social conservatives’ concern it would expand gambling in the state. Observers said this year’s measure likely benefited from legislative turnover after the 2018 elections.
