Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) issues seem to be brought to the state of Wisconsin once again thanks to an initiative of the State Representative Tyler Vorpagel, E-Plymouth.
The truth is that the status of daily fantasy sports in Wisconsin requires more clarity. Currently, the legality of DFS in the state is more of a matter of interpretation. As a matter of fact, the local players are given the opportunity to access daily fantasy sports such as DraftKings, but such operations have never been made officially legal within the state.
As mentioned above, State Rep. Tyler Vorpagel has once again taken up the issue, as his legislation is aimed at making daily fantasy sports officially legal and regulating the local industry once and for all.
Rep. Vorpagel Seeks Another DFS Legislation Attempt
The question of legality and classification of daily fantasy sports in Wisconsin needs to find an answer. Right now rules or, more precisely, the lack of rules, can be interpreted differently, so unite DFS legislation is required. For example, up to date, traditional fantasy football leagues during the National Football League (NFL) season are not classified as the same thing as daily fantasy sports websites which allow players to form teams and place bets on the Internet.
The tricky part of forging a suitable piece of DFS legislation for the state of Wisconsin is related to the classification of daily fantasy sports as a game of skill or a game of luck. According to State Rep. Vorpagel, E-Plymouth, who is also keen on daily fantasy sports, much more knowledge and skills are required in DFS than pure luck – something he says defers daily fantasy sports from online poker.
In case that the proposed bill passes, the state of Wisconsin will require from daily fantasy sports operators to register with the Department of Financial Institutions. In addition, such companies would be required to follow some rules related to DFS operations, conduct audits, suspend their employees from taking part of the games, etc.
Of course, the DFS legislation proposal in Wisconsin has faced opposition as well. Lorri Pickens, the Executive Director of Citizens Against Expanded Gambling, commented on the matter, reminding that daily fantasy sports are usually focused on younger players which is why she was seriously concerned about the possible negative effects of such a step.
Ms. Pickens explained that young players seem to no longer be interested in traditional retail gambling options, as they prefer to place bets and play poker online. The industry and gambling operators, on the other hand, were perfectly aware of this trend and knew online gambling were the future.
Previous DFS Legislation Attempts in Wisconsin
Until recently, the massive potential of Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) has remained remained outside the focus of many gambling companies operating in the US. Lately, more and more US states have been focused on making DFS legal, hoping to take advantage of the benefits that such legislation would bring them.
As far as the state of Wisconsin is concerned, the relative levels of skill and luck are crucial to determine if the addition of daily fantasy sports would be legal or not. The state has already seen a legislative attempt seeking to make DFS legal.
At the beginning of 2016, a group of state Representatives, including Vorpagel, Brostoff, Tauchen, Loudenbeck, Krug, A. Ott and Duchow, introduced Assembly Bill 800 – a piece of legislation related to daily fantasy sports and their legal status in the state of Wisconsin. Unfortunately, the bill failed to pass in April 2016 due to Senate Joint Resolution 1.
The year 2016 also seen another legislative attempt related to fantasy games. Senators Roth, Gudex and Darling, who were cosponsored by the above-mentioned Representatives, introduced Senate Bill 702. The latter, however, also failed to pass pursuant to the same Senate Joint Resolution 1.
- Author
Daniel Williams
