Daily Fantasy Sports Bill Headed to Alabama Governor's Desk
After a long three-year hiatus, Alabama residents might be playing daily fantasy sports soon. On Tuesday, the Alabama Senate passed The Fantasy Contests Act (HB 361) allowing DFS operators to offer fantasy contests in the state again.
It was a little over three years ago when Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange joined a host of Attorneys General to weigh in on the issue of daily fantasy sports, telling DraftKings and FanDuel to cease and desist operations in the state.
“Daily fantasy sports operators claim that they operate legally under Alabama law. However, paid daily fantasy sports contests are in fact illegal gambling under Alabama law,” Attorney General Strange said in a statement.
DraftKings and FanDuel both pulled out promptly, forcing residents to drive across state lines to continue to play, just as Alabama residents who wish to play the lottery have had to do over the last 20 years.
Full-time DFS player and RotoGrinders contributor Dave Potts, aka CheeseIsGood, was one Alabama resident affected by the change.
“When the sites pulled out three years ago it changed my life tremendously. I play fantasy sports for a living and all of a sudden I couldn’t do that from home anymore. I was somewhat lucky in that I live close enough to the border that I was able to keep playing DFS, although not as regularly as before,” Potts said.
Potts has made his second home at a Columbus, Georgia coffee shop, where he goes four to five days a week during the baseball season.
“I have had to play less volume than I used to and I’ve put around 15,000 miles on my car over these past couple years. I am thrilled to be getting DFS back in Alabama and it is going to add a lot of hours back to my days. I will be able to get back to my ideal routine, and I’ll also be able to get back into more DFS sports besides baseball.”
There have been many efforts to pass DFS legislation since the Attorney General’s statement, but none had been successful until Tuesday. A Senate amendment to raise tax rates from 8 percent to 10.5 percent on DFS operators sent the bill back to the House, but the House quickly concurred and the bill is now on its way to Governor Kay Ivey.
Most interesting for consumers is that college sports is not excluded in the bill. So barring an unexpected veto from the Governor, expect a spike in Tua Tagovailoa’s ownership come college football season.
The bill also leaves room for competition in the state. While the bill requires an annual $85,000 registration from fantasy contest operators with an excess of $10 million in national gross revenue, only a $1,000 registration fee is required from fantasy contest operators that do not reach that threshold.
Sports gambling legislation has gained steam across the country. Recently, neighboring state Tennessee legalized online sports betting. Alabama residents may have to drive to the Volunteer State to access sports betting this football season, but DFS players like Potts will be able to create lineups and enter contests in the comfort of their own homes once again.