The Ohio House of Representatives approved a bill defining daily fantasy sports (DFS) games as games of skill while putting companies facilitating DFS contests, such as DraftKings and FanDuel, under the authority of the state’s gambling regulation commission.
DFS services allow players to compete online against other contestants by selecting professional athletes for fantasy teams, comparing real-world performance statistics over an agreed-upon period.
Team “owners” with the best results can win prizes or cash.
House Bill 132 (HB 132), sponsored by state Rep. Robert McColley (R-Napoleon), was approved by the Ohio House of Representatives on May 24 and referred to the Ohio Senate’s Finance Committee on June 15.
‘A Skill-Based Game’
DFS is a game of skill, not luck, McColley says.
“This is a skill-based game that requires a lot of research and prep work,” McColley said. “I have played fantasy sports with many of my friends from law school over the past ten years, so I’m speaking from personal experience here. Unlike in a casino, where the house almost always wins, the companies holding these contests have no vested interest in who wins or loses them.”
Light Regulatory Touch
HB 132 protects individuals without infringing on their rights or taking away choices, McColley says.
“This bill isn’t really intrusive at all,” McColley said. “The biggest effect it will have is just making sure these companies are paying the winning players what they earned. It could help set precedent for other states looking to define and regulate daily fantasy sports.”
Model for Other States
Steven Titch, an associate fellow with R Street Institute, says the bill is generally sound but has some flaws.
“The Ohio daily fantasy sports bill is, for the most part, a sound bill that could serve as a model for other states,” Titch said. “One drawback is that it tries to micromanage daily fantasy sports platform providers by placing caps on the number of times players can enter a large-scale daily fantasy sports contest, and limits the use of scripts and software, which are important tools for skilled players. These policies should be left up the daily fantasy sports companies themselves.”
Steven Titch, an associate fellow with R Street Institute, says the bill is generally sound but has some flaws.
“The Ohio daily fantasy sports bill is, for the most part, a sound bill that could serve as a model for other states,” Titch said. “One drawback is that it tries to micromanage daily fantasy sports platform providers by placing caps on the number of times players can enter a large-scale daily fantasy sports contest, and limits the use of scripts and software, which are important tools for skilled players. These policies should be left up the daily fantasy sports companies themselves.”
