As the realm of fantasy sports expands online, it blurs the lines of online gambling.
As of Dec. 23, daily fantasy sports operators, like FanDuel and DraftKings, were deemed illegal in the opinion of Attorney General Lisa Madigan. While this has no immediate legal ramifications, and it is currently legal to bet on DraftKings in Illinois, the website may soon be illegal for Illinois residents to use.
Madigan issued a statement stating, “in light of the opinion, we expect that both FanDuel and DraftKings will amend their Terms of Use to include Illinois as an additional state whose residents are not eligible to participate in contests.” How the ruling will be enforced remains unclear.
One of the most watched American sports event, the Super Bowl, is a month away. Whether any kind of legal action will be taken before then remains to be seen. DraftKings and FanDuel are fighting rulings against their companies in Nevada as well as New York. This has resulted in users in New York being unable to place bets, although the daily fantasy sports operators are fighting for ways to resume service there.
DraftKings applied for and received a gambling license in the U.K., where betting on sports is both regulated and legal. The website maintains that it is not a gambling entity. All current bets are off for online daily fantasy sports in Illinois.
While lottery sales in Illinois have been down due to state budget disagreements that resulted in delayed payment to winners, these kinds of daily fantasy sports websites have flourished over the past year. Could daily fantasy sports outdo the country’s state lottery system?
