Democrat representative tries for daily fantasy sports legalisation in Illinois

Illinois Representative Michael Zalewski has launched another intrastate daily fantasy sports bill to the state House, claiming that his motivation is the protection of players.

His proposal challenges a 2015 opinion by state Attorney General Lisa Madigan that DFS constitutes illegal gambling in terms of state law (see previous  reports).

“I think daily fantasy sports continues to be operating in a regulatory vacuum,” Zalewski said in a media interview this week. “This has been going on for two or three years now where their sites have operated free and clear of regulatory laws or tax rates.”

The Zalewski bill offers consumer protections such as an age restriction of 21; prohibiting employees of the fantasy contest providers from playing; and requiring annual independent audits to ensure providers are complying with the requirements.

Zalewski pointed out that Illinois is $14 billion in arrears on paying its bills, and DFS tax revenue could provide additional revenue for important schools and other infrastructure.

However, he is likely to meet some opposition; the Illinois Gaming Board, which would be responsible for oversight on DFS, has warned that it may experience difficulty in supervising such an online activity.

“In a casino, we monitor everything. We have surveillance and a central computer system. This would be an outside computer system, probably located outside of Illinois,” said Caleb Melamed, Illinois Gaming Board legislative liaison. Melamed added that DFS represents an expansion of gambling and could be a threat to land casino licensees.

Zalewski argues that oversight has not been a problem in other DFS legalising states, and therefore should not be unduly difficult for the Illinois Gaming Board to undertake.

Peter Schoenke, president of RotoWire, a Wisconsin-based company that provides information and statistics to fantasy sports participants, said online daily fantasy sports betting wouldn’t take any business from casinos.

“Fantasy sports are not a competitor to traditional casino games. They’re just very different,” Schoenke said. “Fantasy sports you play on your computer at home, you’re watching the game on Sundays. You’re not going to a brick-and-mortar building and playing. It’s just a totally different product.”

Related and similar