5 Key Takeaways | The Maze of Laws, Rules, and Regulations at the Intersection of Gambling, Gaming, Sports Betting, and Fantasy Sports
Fantasy Football: The Legal Reality
As of today, July 15, 2024, Google gaming regulations contain significant revisions. The Google Ads policy for daily fantasy sports (“DFS”) operators now enable them to run advertisements in many markets across the United...more
Google has set the stage for a transformative change slated for July 15, 2024, providing a roadmap to extend Google Ads to daily fantasy sports (“DFS”) operators and lottery courier services across numerous U.S. states. A...more
In early May, Brazil’s Law No. 14,852/2024 (the “Legal Framework for Games” or the “Framework”) was published. Originating as Bill No. 2796/2021, the legislation provides the necessary legal framework for the burgeoning...more
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) recently voted to issue a new rule proposal which would serve to ban event contracts on political elections, as well as sporting events, awards, and more. The CFTC has...more
The Florida Gaming Control Commission (FGCC) has taken a significant step by issuing cease-and-desist letters to three online fantasy sports operators. Though this marks the FGCC's first action against the online fantasy...more
Regulated gaming is booming in the United States. This is particularly true of newer forms of gambling, such as skill games, fantasy sports, and social casino games played on the internet and mobile applications. In fact,...more
Since the recent debut of mobile sports gambling in New York, citizens have started wagering on the production of skilled players to lead their bets to victory. More recently, however, “skilled” players of another kind scored...more
On March 22, 2022, the New York Court of Appeals (the “Court”) issued a decision that brought to a close the long-running litigation contesting the legality of Interactive Fantasy Sports (often referred to as “Daily Fantasy...more
On March 22, 2022, the New York Court of Appeals held that the historical prohibition on “gambling” in Article I, §9 of the New York Constitution does not encompass skill-based competitions like daily fantasy sports (DFS)...more
In a widely anticipated decision for fantasy sports operators and their customers, the New York Court of Appeals has ruled that Article 14 of the Racing, Pari-Mutual Wagering and Breeding Law (“Article 14”), which authorized...more
Barry M. Benjamin, managing partner of the New York office and chair of Kilpatrick Townsend’s Advertising and Marketing group, was honored to present at the 2021 ANA/BAA Marketing Law Conference. The session, titled “Gaming,...more
In Spring 2021, eight states enacted legislation approving retail and/or online sports betting, all with the goal of a statewide sports betting launch in time for the 2021-2022 NFL season, which officially begins on September...more
On April 15, Governor Ducey signed into law the greatest expansion of the Arizona gaming landscape in nearly two decades. The new law, along with amended Tribal-State Gaming Compacts, legalizes event wagering (sports...more
Last week the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (EDPA) announced a historic non-prosecution agreement involving 5Dimes, a major offshore sports-betting operator. The agreement represents a major...more
On April 16, 2020, the Illinois Supreme Court officially adopted the "predominate factor test" and ruled in Dew-Becker v. Wu (2020 IL 124472) that daily fantasy sports (DFS) are, in fact, games of skill, and therefore...more
Iowa enacted a sports betting law last May. Section 99E addressed fantasy sports contests and Section 99F addressed sports betting. Under Section 99E: a “Fantasy sports contest” includes any fantasy or simulated game or...more
In a controversial decision, the Illinois Supreme Court determined that a head-to-head, daily fantasy sports (DFS) contest was predominately skill based and thus not gambling. Despite agreeing with the appellate court’s...more
Last week in Dew-Becker v. Wu, 2020 IL 124472 (April 16, 2020), the Illinois Supreme Court sided with the fantasy sports industry holding that daily fantasy sports contests are indeed contests of skill and thus not gambling...more
The MLB, Houston Astros, and Boston Red Sox have secured the dismissal of a fantasy baseball lawsuit over the electronic sign-stealing scandal....more
A New York law permitting interactive fantasy sports (IFS) is unconstitutional, an appellate court in the state has ruled, dealing a blow to the multimillion-dollar industry. The state legislature amended the Racing,...more
The New York Appellate Division dealt a shocking blow to the fantasy sports industry by ruling earlier this month that daily fantasy sports contests are a form of gambling and that the law passed by New York in 2016...more
A 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling opened the door to sports wagering, but individual state constitutions have created a patchwork of state gaming laws. ...more
Last week, the New York Supreme Court's Appellate Division dealt a blow to a law authorizing daily fantasy sports contests in the state, by ruling the law directly violated the state constitution's prohibition on gambling. ...more
The third amendment to the German State Treaty on Gaming (GlüStV) will come into force on 1 January 2020. Private operators of online sports betting platforms will now be given the opportunity to apply for a licence for the...more
It is a legal maxim that arbitration is a creature of contract. A recent District of Massachusetts decision explores critical questions about when that creature can exist outside of the confines of a binding agreement to...more