Colorado Updates Fantasy Sports Regulations
Transcript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Let's move on to the Daily Fantasy landscape here.
00:08 And this is changing by the minute here.
00:10 As sports betting is becoming legalized,
00:12 states are scrutinizing certain operators
00:15 and saying, "Hey, look, is this DFS
00:17 or is this sports wagering?"
00:18 And we've got an update here in the state of Colorado.
00:21 So what are they saying?
00:23 - Yeah, we're seeing more attention than ever
00:26 on this DFS Pick'em product.
00:29 And that comes from last month we were at a conference
00:33 and a government affairs representative
00:35 from FanDuel kind of called it out,
00:37 said there's Daily Fantasy sports companies
00:40 running illegal sports books.
00:41 They're offering these Pick'em products,
00:43 which are generally partly propositions on real life stats,
00:48 which a lot of people feel that that could be sports betting
00:52 and regulators kind of across the country
00:54 have been split on the issue.
00:55 And so our legal experts,
00:57 and we've even had people within these companies say,
00:59 "You know what?
01:00 It's a difference of opinions.
01:01 We respect those opinions.
01:03 We wanna work with regulators to make this work."
01:07 And we've seen certain states kind of crack down.
01:09 We've had Wyoming send a seasoned assist.
01:11 Last year, Maryland and West Virginia did.
01:13 Maine is investigating this right now.
01:15 And I know Kansas is as well.
01:18 And Colorado is kind of one to say,
01:20 "All right, this is fine,
01:22 but we're gonna put a few caveats in here
01:24 and you're gonna work with us."
01:27 And that's what these DFS operators
01:29 under Dog and Price Picks have said to us repeatedly.
01:32 They're working with regulators,
01:33 making sure it falls under their laws.
01:36 And so, yeah, most Pick'em states,
01:40 where it's live, you can pick two players or more,
01:45 and it's based on real life stats.
01:47 So say, you want somebody to hit a homer,
01:50 I'm gonna say he hits more than a homer
01:51 and somebody has more than this many strikeouts.
01:54 Well, in Colorado, you have to have four or more players
01:57 and it has to be based on fantasy point accumulations
02:00 of over-unders.
02:01 So it makes a little bit more sense 'cause it's DFS.
02:05 It's daily fantasy, picked on fantasy points.
02:10 It's a little more cut and dry
02:11 than we're seeing in some other states.
02:13 And I think this is, I talked to a lawyer for this story.
02:16 Go ahead and go read it at Legal Sports Report.
02:18 But he said, "This is the biggest topic in sports betting."
02:22 Because some of these states,
02:25 these Pick'em operators aren't paying taxes
02:27 or the license fees for sports betting.
02:29 And for those people who feel like it's sports betting,
02:32 that's not fair.
02:34 So yeah, it's an issue
02:35 and it's gonna continue to be for a little bit,
02:37 I think, as regulators kind of pay more attention to it
02:40 and shake out the rules.
02:42 (upbeat music)
02:45 [MUSIC]