Virginia has offered legal fantasy sports since 2016. And like some states, they have concerns over the so-called pick’em contests. As a result, Virginia’s attorney general issued an opinion not unlike other regulators declaring the contest sports betting as defined by state law.
In pick’em contests, the customer plays against the house instead of peers, and that has garnered a lot of fire from a number states up to threats to ban the contests.
Attorney General Jason Miyares wrote in his opinion that a reading of the statutory definition of a fantasy contest included three key points:
“In simplified terms, they are 1) prizes are established and known in advance of the contest; 2) participants compete against each other and winners are determined based on accumulation of statistical performance; and 3) outcomes are not based on actual, single game performances or event results. Accordingly, a ‘fantasy contest’ is one in which multiple individual contestants earn points based on statistical, not actual, results of athletes’ performances and a contestant wins upon garnering more points than the other contestants.”
For the time being, fantasy companies will continue to operate legally, he said. That decision will depend on whether Virginia lawmakers ban pick’em contests.
“We disagree with the Attorney General’s opinion and look forward to continuing our positive working relationship with our governing agencies in the Commonwealth of Virginia,” Allison Harris, spokesperson for the Coalition for Fantasy Sports, told SBC Americas. “The opinion does not supersede the licensing process in place as established by the Virginia General Assembly.”
The coalition includes PrizePicks, Sleeper, and Underdog Fantasy, all offering pick’em. They feature the same game in other states that have no issue with the way the game plays out.
