Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, CONSUMER PROTECTION NEWS: Illinois AG: fantasy sports contests violate state gambling law, (Dec 28, 2015)
Organizations Mentioned:DraftKings, Inc. | FanDuel | FanDuel Inc.
By Greg Hammond, J.D.
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan has issued a letter to the state House Judiciary-Criminal Committee, stating her opinion that daily fantasy sports contests offered by FanDuel Inc. and DraftKings, Inc. constitute illegal gambling under Illinois law.
FanDuel and DraftKings are two of the most prominent companies offering online daily fantasy sports contests, according to the letter. These contests involve virtual teams in which participants choose current athletes in a given professional or college sport to create a fantasy sports team and then compete against other participants. The winner or winners are then determined based on how the athletes individually perform in their actual professional or college sports game. Contestants are required to pay an entry fee to participate in the fantasy sports contests and to win prizes.
The Illinois Criminal Code prohibits the playing of both “games of chance or skill for money.” This statutory language, according to Madigan, is straightforward and unequivocal. “It clearly declares that all games of chance or skill, when played for money, are illegal gambling in Illinois, unless excepted,” the letter states. Because participants must pay an entry fee or buy-in amount in order to win a prize, Madigan claims that the act of playing daily fantasy sports contests in Illinois constitutes illegal gambling under the Illinois Criminal Code, unless otherwise excepted.
FanDuel and DraftKings, according to the letter, believe daily fantasy sports contests are excepted under “offers of prizes, award or compensation to the actual contestants in any bona fide contest for the determination of skill, speed, strength or endurance or to the owners of animals or vehicles entered in such contest.” Madigan clarified, however, that this exception applies to “actual contestants” in the actual sporting event, such as the athletes, not daily fantasy sports contest participants.
Companies: DraftKings, Inc.; FanDuel Inc.
News: ConsumerProtection IllinoisNews