A look at what happened recently in the industry of daily fantasy sports, and what to watch for:
Watching New York
Pretty much everything else going on in DFS these days is trivial when compared to what is going on in New York right now.
Legislation that would legalize and regulate the industry started making its way through committee hearings this week, after Assemblymember Gary Pretlow introduced his bill the previous week.
There was some opposition on display in both the Senate and the Assembly, but it’s unclear that it would be enough to derail the bills.
New York faces a June 16 deadline for passing legislation. Online poker legislation is also being considered in the state.
DFS site takes weird legal tack
A daily fantasy sports site is arguing not that it is legal in a state, but illegal.
In court filings, DraftOps argued that DFS is illegal in Minnesota as it tries to avoid paying a million dollars to the NHL’s Minnesota Wild as part of a sponsorship deal.
Minnesota, however, had not been one of the more “gray” states in terms of legality. A site saying it is illegal in a state where DFS was generally considered legal could have repercussions down the road.
Back in Mississippi
DFS sites have been re-entering Mississippi after a law was passed by the state in May.
FanDuel and DraftKings, per their terms of use, have removed Mississippi from their lists of excluded states. Previously, both sites had exited the state in the wake of a negative opinion from the state attorney general.
Contest limits
FanDuel instituted new limits to the number of head to head contests users can enter.
That comes as regulatory frameworks come online across the country this year, and in “as part of our ongoing efforts to ensure a level playing field for all users,” according to FanDuel.
