TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) – Amid growing scrutiny of the fantasy sports industry, two top Florida Republicans announced Tuesday they have filed legislation that would make it clear that betting on fantasy sports is legal.
While companies such as FanDuel and DraftKings have been spending money on a barrage of advertising in Florida, the legal situation isn’t clear. Attorney General Pam Bondi says she stands by a nearly 25-year-old legal opinion that declared fantasy sports illegal in the Sunshine State.
Sen. Joe Negron, a Jupiter Republican in line to become Senate president, along with Rep. Matt Gaetz, are responding by asking legislators to pass a bill that would exempt fantasy sports from the state’s gambling laws. The measure also would require companies such as DraftKings to register with the state and would put some restrictions on their operations. It would make it illegal for anyone under 18 to participate.
Legislators are scheduled to start their 2016 session in January.
Negron said Tuesday evening that because of the growing scrutiny of fantasy sports nationwide, he thought it was a good idea to create legislation to protect Floridians who participate in the sports from being prosecuted.
“I don’t think we want to criminalize that kind of activity,” he said.
Last month, Nevada required fantasy sports companies to obtain a gambling license. Georgia, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania also have considered enacting their own rules.
“I have played fantasy football since I was a freshman in high school, and I have never felt the need for protection from the government,” Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, said in a statement.
While federal law has an exception utilized by those in the fantasy sports industry, the legal situation in Florida is murkier, thanks in part to a 1991 opinion authored by then-Attorney General Bob Butterworth.
Butterworth flatly stated that an NFL fantasy league – in which team owners paid $100 to join and won money based on the performance of their team – was illegal gambling. Butterworth stated that while there may be some skill in picking a fantasy team, the prizes in a league are based on the performance of a player in an actual football game and that it is like placing a bet.
This past summer, the fantasy sports industry began hiring big-name lobbyists in the state capital in anticipation of a possible backlash.
Marc Dunbar, a Tallahassee attorney and expert on gambling laws, said the decision by legislators to file a bill to regulate fantasy sports is “a clear acknowledgement by this industry that the activity is gambling under current Florida law.”
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Copyright 2015 The Associated Press.
