Residents of Arizona are currently breaking the law by playing fantasy sports. But the passage of Bill SB 1468 would remove Arizona from the list of states that have not yet legalized fantasy sports. Those other states include Washington, Louisiana, Montana, and Iowa.
The bill specifically defines what fantasy competitions are. It also defines that the winnings are based on:
"THE RELATIVE KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL OF THE PARTICIPANTS"
That would cement what the fantasy industry has positioned in that fantasy sports is a competition that requires skill to win and unlike gambling which is based on games of chance.
In addition, any prize and awards offered is:
"NOT DETERMINED BY THE NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS OR THE AMOUNT OF ANY FEES PAID BY THOSE PARTICIPANTS"
Thus the winnings are not like a lottery where the prize money is determined by the number of people who buy tickets. For fantasy sports, it would not rely on the entry fee of any transactions fees that league owners pay.
FtSb Says: The number of states that have not legalized gambling grow smaller which would be a great win for daily fantasy industry. Yahoo, ESPN and the NFL may not see immediate impact to their business if all states were to legalize fantasy sports. The impact would be from daily fantasy sites that could steal a user base away when the daily fantasy sites can offer cash awards to the fantasy player.
