JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Different bills to regulate — and protect — daily fantasy sports in Missouri moved forward in both the House and Senate this week, with both seeking to ensure Missourians ability to enjoy playing fantasy sports.
HB 1941, which was perfected Tuesday afternoon, creates a regulatory framework and consumer protections while establishing daily fantasy as a game of skill while SB 1131, authored by Sen. Scott Sifton was heard and passed by the Senate Progress and Development Committee Wednesday afternoon.
The legislation seeks to recognize and regulate the daily fantasy sports industry at a time when other states, notably New York and Illinois, have sued to keep these games from being played in their states, calling the games “gambling.”
Rep. Scott Fitzpatrick, R-Shell Knob, the House bill’s sponsor, defended fantasy as a game of skill, arguing that there is an entry fee instead of betting, that players cannot bluff and that players choose the cards they play, unlike games like poker.
“I think the ability to choose the cards that you play, that reduces the chance,” he said.
However, several members argued that the legislation was providing a way to not call daily fantasy what it is, gambling.
“I think we can twist and turn this as much as we want,” said Rep. John Rizzo, D-Kansas City. “At the end of the day, this is gambling.”
Unlike HB 1941, Sifton’s bill took existing gambling laws in Missouri and applied it to the daily fantasy sports industry.
“We’re going to take what we’re already doing for riverboats and start doing it for daily fantasy,” he said.
His legislation would regulate daily fantasy through the gaming commission and tax the industry at the same 21 percent rate as gambling in the state. It would also create penalties for daily fantasy companies that do not follow the legislation and makes clear that there is a difference between daily fantasy and sports gambling.
“If you play by the rules and are regulated as pursuant to the legislation, we are not going to call you gambling,” he said.
Rep. Rory Rowland, D-Independence, argued that the legislation amounted to caving into the daily fantasy industry in order to exempt them from the regulations that gambling institutions face.
“This is giving a complete carve out to this industry,” he said. “We are allowing these folks to play on a completely unlevel playing field.”
He also raised the concern that by not regulating daily fantasy as gambling, the taxed income would not benefit education and other areas that benefit from gambling money.
Sifton’s legislation was not the same as the bill that Fitzpatrick sponsored in the House. That legislation was also filed in the Senate by Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, and was heard by the Progress and Development Committee, but that bill has not been passed out of the committee.
Greg Porter, who testified for informational purposes on behalf of Fanduel and Draft Kings, the two largest daily fantasy companies, said that while his clients preferred the House legislation, they were not opposed to Sifton’s bill.
Supporters of the House bill say it is about ensuring that the industry remains viable for Missourians to enjoy.
“At some point I think it’s OK to let people sit on a couch and enjoy fantasy football,” said Rep. Jeremy LaFaver, D-Kansas City.
