Massachusetts legalises fantasy sports
The future of Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) has been secured in Massachusetts after regulations were signed into law by the US state’s governor.
US.- Eight US states have now enacted paid-entry fantasy sports bills this year, after Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has effectively signed a three-year deal into law.
The new rules include a minimum age of 21 for participants, bar games based on college or amateur sports and prohibit individual players from spending more than €900 each month without proof they could withstand deep financial losses.
Rather than act as a bill purely to legalise fantasy sports, H 4569 was an economic development bill that included fantasy sports regulation. Governor Charlie Baker stated that what they were doing was taking what the attorney general put out there as sort of directional guidance and turned into a statute so that a company like DraftKings can continue to be headquartered in the commonwealth.
Jason Robins, CEO of DraftKings, said: “For us it was more about making sure that our standing on the legal front was very clear. Regulations can bog down, but if it’s done the right way it enables industry, it allows it to continue to flourish. In our case it’ll help. It will make it so we can grow faster and do it in the right way.”
Unlike other bills involving daily fantasy sports in the United States, the measure in Massachusetts does not seek to regulate the industry and does not charge a fee for licensing or taxes. The bill includes language that coincides with regulations created by Attorney General Maura Healey from 2015 when she decided DFS gaming was legal.
The bill creates a special commission to conduct a study on fantasy sports and online gambling, which will be co-chaired by the House and Senate chairs of the Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies.
Fantasy sports are now regulated in 10 US states overall, as Maryland and Kansas already had regulations in place before this year, before bills were successful in Colorado, Missouri, Indiana, Virginia, Tennessee and Mississippi this year.
