Sports junkies based in New York who are caught in between a controversy involving daily fantasy sports may soon breathe a big sigh of relief following word that the New York Assembly has passed a bill legalizing the practice.
Per the WSJ, 10% of the national market in New York has always been in the center of the controversial sports debate, something that was initially hit for allegedly violating the state’s gambling laws.
This was first singled out by New York General Eric Schneiderman, who was behind the cease-and-desist order that affected DraftKings and FanDuel. The same issue is seen as the reason why the fantasy sports sites were also barred in states like Illinois and Texas.
Big Win for DraftKings and FanDuel
While the passing of the bill should be good news for daily fantasy sports, it still required the signature of Governor Andre Cuomo. That is seen more as a formality which, once done, will be a big win for DraftKings and FanDuel.
Both sides resorted to legal action against Schneiderman and such allowed them to stay on until a decision was made by the Supreme Court. It should be noted that the two groups never intended to drag this to a whole legal mess but more on to iron things out and settle things the legal way.
It all ended up seeing both DraftKings and FanDuel staking their trade against state capitals which eventually got some headway.
Virginia became the first state to legalize daily fantasy sports, followed by Indiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Missouri, and Colorado. New York could be next to legalize it, a breakthrough that may entice other states to legalize daily sports fantasy as well.
Amended Bill with Stricter Oversight
The bill amends the state’s current gambling laws and will now include regulated interactive fantasy sports contests requiring an entry fee. The bill can be found here.
The bill intends also includes safeguarding players from the state. As detailed by Tech Crunch:
- Restricting players under the age of 18
- Ensure that the accurate odds of winning are actually represented
- Enabling players to permanently exclude themselves from future games at any time
- Identifying highly experienced players
