Fantasy Sports For All: DFS Legislative Update
Editor’s Note: This post is the first installment of what we hope will be a semi-regular update on the status of DFS laws, regulations and pending legislation coming from staff at DraftKings or FanDuel (or individuals helping with their efforts). It’s important that the RotoGrinders community stays informed on these issues and listens to how we can help the companies ensure DFS continues to remain legal and has the kind of future we all want. Please try to give these updates your attention and stay active on this issue.
Hey Grinders! I’m Derek Hein and I work on the Government Affairs team for DraftKings. Prior to working at DraftKings I was an avid DFS player, so I have a great appreciation for the players, the industry, and the awesome team here at RotoGrinders. I hope these posts will provide regular updates on legislative and government activity across the country impacting the RG community.
The most important thing is for you to STAY ENGAGED with the governmental and political process. You are our most valuable asset and our most effective advocates. It’s the strength of this community that delivered us incredible successes last year and it’s your voices we need to build on that success. The best way for you to know what is happening is to stay connected via our advocacy site – Fantasy Sports For All. You’ll have the most up-to-date information and the site also makes it easy to let your elected officials know how important DFS is to you.
And while I won’t always be able to answer every question about what is happening in a state, we are going to try to keep you informed through these regular posts. You can also find me on Twitter at derekhein.
As states are still in the process of starting their 2017 legislative sessions, I thought it would be helpful to take a quick look back at what we accomplished together in 2016.
The highlights:
- - In 2016, the industry achieved passage of bills in Colorado, Indiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, New York, Tennessee, and Virginia.
- - 38 states introduced legislation to protect fantasy sports
- - 27 states passed a bill out of at least one committee
- - 15 states passed a bill out of at least one legislative chamber
- - 0 states voted down a pro-fantasy sports bill
Ask anyone who works on passing bills in states, they will tell you that’s an extraordinary amount of success. It typically takes years to pass a bill in a single state – we were able to pass bills in eight states. Given how challenging 2015 was for the industry (I don’t need to revisit that in any detail), we certainly feel like we rebounded well and set ourselves up for further success in 2017.
Why were we successful? You. Through Fantasy Sports For All, we were able to make 465,414 phone or email connections to state legislators. We had one legislator in New York – a crucial victory – tell us he heard from more people on fantasy sports than any other issue last year. That is how you move an issue. There is no question the foundation of our success was DFS players taking the initiative to reach out to their elected officials.
New York
Our win in New York was the Anthony Davis of state legislature victories in 2016. It was the place that could make or break our entire lineup. If we limped out of Albany with a bruised knee halfway through the second quarter, it may not have mattered what happened in any other state.
In the end, State Senator John Bonacic, Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, Assemblyman Dean Murray, and our incredible team worked extremely hard and found agreement between the Assembly and Senate. Some of you probably spent hours watching a still picture of the New York Assembly with lovely orchestral music playing on a loop while the future of the DFS industry was hanging in the balance. But when the music ended, the bill passed and several weeks later Gov. Cuomo signed it into law. DFS was back in New York by the time the NFL season started.
Colorado
With the help of former Broncos wide receiver, Brandon Stokley, our team achieved passage of a bill in Colorado. The bill provides for regulation under the Department of Regulatory Agencies, and includes consumer protections found in legislation passed in other states. Sometimes you make great plays that end in success, and as Brandon Stokley can attest, sometimes you make great plays AND get lucky. In Colorado, we made some great plays—and made our own luck.
Tennessee
After we received a negative opinion from the Tennessee Attorney General in April 2016, the industry and legislature were able to work together and passed a bill by a wide margin in both chambers. Members of the RotoGrinders team joined our lobbyists for meetings at the Tennessee Statehouse and provided policymakers with a small business perspective of the fantasy sports world.
Massachusetts
Our victory in Massachusetts was also a huge win for the industry, because it happened in the state where my company (DraftKings) is headquartered. Spearheaded by tireless efforts from DraftKings founder and CEO Jason Robins and our Government Affairs team, we succeeded getting language clarifying our legality into a larger economic development bill, followed in true New England fashion by Gronk handing out ice cream.
Other States
Bills were also passed in Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Virginia during the 2016 Legislative Session. In 2017, a follow-up bill has already been introduced in Missouri to lower the fee and tax paid by fantasy sports operators. In Mississippi, the 2016 bill had a one-year sunset so a task force developed a proposal we hope will be considered and passed sometime this year.
Looking Ahead
We are still early in January of 2017 and we have already seen bills related to fantasy sports introduced in Florida, Montana, and Oregon. We expect to see activity on fantasy sports bills in a variety of states over the next six months. We will continue to work hard to ensure that fantasy players, especially the RG community, can continue to play.
Again – and I can’t stress this enough – please visit Fantasy Sports For All and become an advocate in your state for fantasy sports. An email, a phone call, a personal letter, or office visit with your state elected officials can go a long way. State senators and representatives are interested in issues that are important to their constituents. You have a unique opportunity to tell them about why fantasy is important to you and we hope you will continue to support our efforts to protect the future of fantasy sports.