Is It Legal To Play Daily Fantasy Baseball For Money?
Many people are opening their eyes to Daily Fantasy Baseball and learning that they can play daily fantasy baseball leagues for real money.
With many people still reeling from the mess that occurred in the online poker world, the question that comes up frequently is “Is it legal to play Daily Fantasy Baseball for money?”
YES - playing Daily Fantasy Baseball for money is legal in the US and Canada.
Currently, in the US states Washington, Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, and Montana, the law is a bit unclear as to conducting contests online for prize money, so most daily fantasy baseball sites don’t allow paid games in these states.
The law that allowed legality is the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) in which fantasy sports were noted to be a “game of skill” and received special exemption. The law revolved around fantasy sports not having a 50/50 chance to win unlike the odds of wagering on a single game. Daily Fantasy Sports contests are never about one game - there are usually a minimum of 2 games that are included, and players at various positions need to be chosen which is where the skill aspect comes in.
If there was any doubt about the security of how legal these contests are, you need to look no further than the investment funding that has been put into Daily Fantasy Sports sites over the last few years.
DraftStreet (2010 / 2013)
In 2010, DraftStreet.com raised $1.6 Million in Series A funding (undisclosed investors). In 2013, the IAC/InteractiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI) invested an undisclosed amount of Venture Capital funding with DraftStreet.
DraftDay (April 2012)
DraftDay.com raised $875,000 from LightBank (a tech investment fund created by Groupon co-founders Eric Leftkosky and Brad Keywell).
FanDuel (Jan 2013)
FanDuel.com raised $11 Million Venture Capital Funding from Comcast Ventures.
Fan Throwdown (April 2013)
FanThrowdown.com was purchased by MGT Capital Investments for an estimated company worth of $4 Million (65% stake).
DraftKings (May, November 2013)
In May 2013, our affiliate partner DraftKings.com raised $7 Million in Series A Funding from Atlas Venture. In November 2013 they raised an additional $24 Million in Series B Venture Capital Funding led by Redpoint Ventures with other investors GGV Capital, Atlas Venture, and BDS Ventures.
In addition to these examples, NBC, Comcast and Fox have also launched their own versions of daily fantasy sports contests.
With the issues that occurred in the poker industry, it is understandable that players looking to get into Daily Fantasy Sports would be skeptical. Again, the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA) has spelled out the legality of Fantasy Sports and when in doubt…follow the money…if Venture Capital money is being invested, and major TV networks are putting their money into Daily Fantasy Sports…you can be assured that the legality of Daily Fantasy Baseball is safe. If it wasn’t, a company like PayPal that never accepted deposits or withdrawals for poker or sports betting online, would have never become a large part of this game.
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