Pennsylvania considers limiting fantasy sports gambling
By PETER JACKSON
HARRISBURG (AP) — Legislation to limit daily fantasy sports websites in Pennsylvania to those sponsored by the state's 12 casinos is slated for a committee vote next week in the state House of Representatives.
The proposal would shut out major fantasy sports websites such as DraftKings and FanDuel unless they strike a deal with the state-licensed casinos, said Rep. George Dunbar, whose amendment is being considered by the House Gaming Oversight Committee.
“It will still be legal as long as it's done through our casinos," the Westmoreland County Republican said. “It will be banned elsewhere."
Nevada regulators ordered DraftKings and FanDuel to stop operations unless they get a gambling license. Fantasy sports are also barred in five other states.
Dunbar said his latest plan would ensure that state regulators scrutinize operations of the now-unregulated companies to protect consumers. It also would benefit the casinos by drawing people to their websites and potentially raise more than $100 million annually in badly needed state revenue, Dunbar said.
“It isn't going to solve our budgetary problems," he said, referring to the partisan stalemate that has left in limbo a state budget that was supposed to have been in place by July 1.
Dunbar's original bill, introduced in May, proposed allowing the casinos to host their own fantasy websites, leaving the unregulated websites to continue. But he has changed his approach with the amendment he has written.
The Pennsylvania attorney general's office has not received any complaints about fantasy sports, spokeswoman Sadie Martin said. A spokesman for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, Richard McGarvey, declined to comment.
DraftKings and FanDuel hired a lobbying firm in Pennsylvania in June, according to state lobbyist registration reports.
The fantasy sports industry insists its games are not gambling, but rather games of skill that are protected by a 2006 federal law that provides a special exemption for such enterprises.
Republican legislators in Pennsylvania who have resisted Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf's proposals for tax increases to close a $2 billion-plus budget deficit have led calls for the state's third gambling expansion in six years to free up additional cash.
The House gaming committee also is expected to vote on several other measures, including Sen. Kim Ward's bill to allow casinos that are willing to pay a $10 million permit fee to offer Internet gambling to people who are physically in the state while they are playing online.
The panel's chairman, Rep. John Payne, R-Dauphin, said fantasy sports and other online games need to be closely regulated to prevent abuses and protect consumers.
“Because it's not regulated, I don't know if anybody has a real good idea of how much revenue is out there," he said.