Republican representative Jake Highfill of Johnston and Democrat Jeff Danielson of Cedar Falls have crossed party lines to draft a bill into the Iowa House and Senate to make it legal to participate in fantasy sports. This would allow Iowans the ability to play in the growing fantasy sports game that offer prize money for winners.
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Iowa is currently one of 5 states that have categorized fantasy sports winning as illegal gambling. Although the federal government has provisioned the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 to specifically exempt fantasy sports from gambling, Iowa must determine at the state level to settle the question of legality of fantasy sports in the state. The other states include: Arizona, Louisiana, Montana, and Washington.
FtSb Says: The number of states that have barriers for fantasy sports are dwindling if the effort of Iowa are successful. Although, the remaining states may have laws restricting fantasy sports, to date there have been no cases filed against person in those state that may have broken the law concerning fantasy sports and gambling. An interesting viewpoint to consider is what does Yahoo, ESPN, and NFL do for their fantasy games when the last legal hurdle for gambling has been cleared. Those game providers may still elect to not to participate in any forms of games that resemble gambling because of their brand.
