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Sponsors
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History
- Referred to racing, gaming and wagering
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Gives the New York state gaming commission jurisdiction over fantasy sports gaming
In Assembly Committee · Racing And Wagering · Sponsor Felix Ortiz
Full text
The text isn't available here yet. Check nysenate.gov.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law, in relation to giving the New York state gaming commission jurisdiction over fantasy sports gaming
Purpose
The purpose of this bill is to give the state gaming commission jurisdiction over fantasy sports gaming.
Summary of provisions
Subdivision 5 of section 101 of the racing, pari-mutuel wagering and breeding law, as added by section 1 of part A of chapter 60 of the laws of 2012, is amended and a new subdivision 7 is added to add "fantasy sports gaming" to the definition of "gaming activity."
"Fantasy sports gaming" is defined by the bill to mean any gaming conducted over an internet website in which game winnings are paid to participants based upon the outcomes of games played by virtual teams of real players of a professional sport, where such teams are assembled by such participants and the outcomes of games are determined by the statistical performance of such real players in actual games.
Justification
Allegations surrounding insider information available to employees of the fantasy sports giants FanDual and DraftKings has led to an inquiry by the Attorney General and resulted in a raft of questions raised by the press. Fantasy sports are legal in New York and 44 other states but are largely unregulated; however, Nevada's Gaming Control Board has ruled that only incumbent Nevada casinos can offer fantasy sports and betting on fantasy sports is illegal in Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana and Washington. According to a New York Times article, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA), which was passed in 2006 to regulate online gambling, carved out an exemption for fantasy sports because they are deemed "skill games."
In light of this exemption and the recent questions raised about the transparency, fairness and security of the fantasy sports companies' data about their rosters, it is appropriate to put added consumer protections in place by giving the state's gaming commission regulatory authority over this type of gaming. The gaming commission has authority over any form of legal gaming in the state, including pari-mutuel wagering, both on-track and off-track (betting), bingo and charitable games of chance and the state lottery for education. Adding fantasy sports to that list is both reasonable and justified given existing authority over similar types of gambling, and it would help prevent unfair practices in this booming multimillion dollar industry.
Legislative history
New bill
Fiscal implications
None
Effective date
Immediately
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.