The aftermath of the Congressional hearing on daily fantasy sports

The House subcommittee hearing was labelled “Daily Fantasy Sports: Issues and Perspectives.”

US.- On Wednesday the House subcommittee held a hearing labelled “Daily Fantasy Sports: Issues and Perspectives.” The point of the nearly two-hour long hearing seems to be the decriminalisation of sports gambling nationwide.

Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), the driving force behind the hearing, called on for the U.S. House Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade hearing to review daily fantasy sports to probe whether consumer protection legislation was needed.

“The biggest thing for me is that I would like us to legalise sports betting,” said Pallone after the hearing. “I am hoping this panel and the statements that were made about why it doesn’t make sense to allow (sports betting) to go underground and run by organized crime would lead us to some kind of legislation. The point is allowing sports betting to be legal in states like New Jersey who want it. That’s what I was hoping this would contribute to, primarily.”

Pallone added he was “disappointed” that FanDuel and DraftKings declined to attend the hearing. The NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB, leagues that have partnered and even purchased stakes in either FanDuel or DraftKings, also decided to skip the hearing.

The landscape of daily fantasy sports was discussed extensively. A handful of committee members queried the panel about protecting the average daily fantasy player from algorithms used by elite players, who tilt the odds in their favour. The state laws that currently govern how daily fantasy sports are regulated were also discussed.

The Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA) has limited state-sponsored sports betting to Nevada. Pallone has authored legislation over the years, to exclude New Jersey from PASPA, however, none of his proposed measures have moved out of committee. To conclude, Pallone said more hearings and legislation to protect consumers were possibilities.

Peter Schoenke, Fantasy Sports Trade Association chairman, spoke on behalf of FanDuel and DraftKings: “We don’t really feel that PASPA impacts us at all. We are a game of skill. That’s a law about sports gambling, so whatever Congress decides to do with that, we are neutral.”