Legislators in both the Kansas and Iowa have introduced measures that would exempt fantasy sports leagues involving money from being considered illegal.
Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission guidelines state, “If a fantasy sports league involves the elements of prize, chance and consideration, then it is an illegal lottery prohibited by Kansas criminal law.” Kansas state Rep. Brett Hildabrand, sponsor of the fantasy sports league bill, said 500,000 Kansans play in fantasy leagues each year with no intention of breaking the law. “Since it is such a popular past-time, I wanted to make sure that we did something to address that, so that folks participating in this innocent past-time would not get prosecuted in the future,” Hildabrand said.
His measure states fantasy sports are a skill and awards are made known to participants prior to each contest. The bill recently passed the House Committee of Federal and State Affairs and now will move to the full House.
Meanwhile, a Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission spokesman said the commission has no plans at this time to penalize anyone who plays fantasy sports for money.
In Iowa, Senate File 166 recently passed in a 32-16 vote and will move to the House, which is considering the nearly identical House File 281. The bills add a single passage to Section 99B.11 of the Iowa code, exempting fantasy sports contests from the state’s definition of gambling. The bills will legalize fantasy sports league prizes above $50, which currently are against the law. Like Kansas, the Iowa bills consider fantasy sports a game of skill. The legislation also will authorize a study of the impact of allowing real-money fantasy sports contests in the state.
Iowa is currently blocked by most – but not all – major daily fantasy sports sites. The bill attempts to take Iowa out of that category, allowing it to join the 45 states in which most daily fantasy sports websites operate.
State Senator Jeff Danielson, chairman of the Senate State Government Committee, said, “We are currently in legal limbo. We have never really clearly defined what fantasy sports are in Iowa.”
In a story at ESPN, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said fantasy sports is a “game of skill,” differentiating it from sports betting. Disney is said to be considering getting into daily fantasy sports by backing the DraftKings.
In Washington state, the legislature was about to legalize real-money daily fantasy sports before issues arose regarding skill game versus gambling and season-long versus daily fantasy.
The Minnesota legislature also is considering a bill authorizing sports wagering online services. It would require an operating agreement between sports wagering operators and the Minnesota State Lottery.
