“Mr. Schneiderman should stop trying to nickel-and-dime DraftKings and FanDuel”

Key lawmaker sees NY legalizing and regulating daily fantasy sports

Assemblyman Chad Lupinacci announced on Monday he will co-sponsor legislation that would classify daily fantasy sports as a “game of skill”, which would once again legalize fantasy sports betting in New York State.
2015-12-09
Reading time 1:39 min
Assemblyman Chad Lupinacci announced on Monday he will co-sponsor legislation that would classify daily fantasy sports as a “game of skill”, which would once again legalize fantasy sports betting in New York State.

A spokesman for Schneiderman declined to comment when asked why the attorney general declined an invitation to speak at the Assembly hearing.

For three hours on Tuesday, attorneys for fantasy sports websites DraftKings and FanDuel insisted to lawmakers in the state Assembly the businesses were games of skill, not luck. Proponents of Internet gambling in the state need to change the law. “Mr. Schneiderman should stop trying to nickel-and-dime DraftKings and FanDuel and end the bogus claims that daily fantasy sports are a ‘game of chance'”. He said fantasy sports offer “great potential for harm” and that to “legalize illegal activities and regulate them is not the solution”.

Though invited, no one from Schneiderman’s office appeared before the panels on Tuesday.

Faraldo said the sites are marketing themselves as less intimidating than pari-mutuel wagering windows at tracks or advance deposit wagering platforms. “Those are the issues we’re interested in for the state of NY”.

Repeatedly, attorneys for the companies told lawmakers the games are legal in NY, despite the lingering court decision.
Faraldo said the state “cannot allow this to continue”.

Lawmakers raised questions about how the companies ensure no one under 18 is playing the game, what they do to dissuade problem gamblers from being lured to their sites, how players’ account money is protected, and whether fantasy sports sites should be taking money from players wanting to wager on tennis matches and horse races as compared with the performance of fantasy teams that players make up using from six to 10 pro football players during a day of games on Sundays.

“It should be regulated in NY state”, he said. The Sullivan County Legislature, Gov. Cuomo, and our representatives in Albany, Sen.
Regulating daily fantasy sports is shaping up to be one of the more hot-button issues facing state lawmakers when they start the 2016 session next month.

“If the courts rule that it is an illegal act, then we will go in one direction, we will probably legalize it because people are doing it”, said Pretlow, D-Mount Vernon.

After the hearing, Pretlow said he disagreed with the DSF industry’s explanation that the contests are legal and that he believes they violate the state’s penal code.

Still, Pretlow said, he believes Schneiderman “has a very strong case” to shut down the sites.

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