Senator Bill Coley says DFS is gambling unless all player deposits find their way back to the players
Ohio Senator Bill Coley is ruffling the feathers of daily fantasy sports operators with a new legislative proposal that unless all player deposits find their way back to the players, the pastime constitutes gambling for profit which is against the law in Ohio.
Coley says that at present DFS is an example of the "pools for profit" concept, the rules for which the state Attorney General has opined are unclear in relation to DFS.
Coley wants to clear up any confusion over the vertical with his SB 356 proposal, and told the local television station WKSU that in his view "a lot of what they (DFS) are doing in Ohio is illegal" under state gambling laws.
SB356 would revise the state's current law to classify fantasy sports and eSports as "schemes of chance," and will authorise the Ohio Casino Control Commission to ensure the DFS pools aren't conducted for profit.
"When you're taking a rake off the top, you're breaking the law and you need to stop doing that in the state of Ohio," Coley said this week.
A spokesman for the principal DFS operators, DraftKings and FanDuel, told the station that Coley's proposed bill requiring that 100 percent of the money paid into the games must be sent back out to the winners would have serious consequences.
"Other states have recently addressed this issue and have done so in a very clear and effective manner that puts some basic consumer protections around fantasy sports… but have made it clear that the games are legal," the spokesman said.
Senator Coley is also causing ripples elsewhere in Ohio gambling; he is among the opponents of Gov. John Kasich's initiative to overhaul the state lottery.
Kasich spent $600,000 of state money on commissioning the Spectrum Gaming Group to study the Ohio State Lottery and make recommendations. The consulting firm concluded that the lottery should move from a government operation to a "quasi-public" corporation.
It opined that current activity was not efficient and that the organisation was slow to react to market changes.
The recommendations included a suggestion that legalised online gambling should be considered, and that the seven Ohio racinos be permitted to offer video poker and e-table games.
Online Casino News Courtesy of Infopowa
