Judge: Fantasy Sports Aren't Gambling
from the well,-phew dept
All you fantasy sports players out there, relax. You're not going to get thrown in jail for violating anti-gambling laws. You may recall that, almost exactly a year ago, a lawyer filed a lawsuit claiming that many premium fantasy sports leagues violated anti-gambling laws, as people had to pay money for what he considered "games of chance." There was some talk that he filed this lawsuit to help show how ridiculous our anti-gambling laws are (basing at least part of the suit on centuries' old laws), while others thought it was simply a weak promotional attempt by a lawyer who's practice focuses on gambling laws. However, there was almost universal agreement that the suit he filed had no chance of going anywhere -- and if anyone took that bet, they would have won (though, probably not very much, given the odds). A court has thrown out the lawsuit, saying that fee-based fantasy sports leagues are clearly not gambling. The judge notes that entry fees to fantasy leagues are obviously not bets. So feel free to keep on playing.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Wow, way to break that door wide open
Looking at this ruling, one could make a case to allow online poker to continue. After all, while based somewhat on chance, poker is equal parts skill as much as luck.
And isn't fantasy sports the same thing? If your all-star player gets injured, or you have a bad draft position, things that the player has no control over, isn't that "chance"?
Even noticing that it's because the judge said "entry fees are obviously not bets", does that mean that a poker tournament entry fee could have the same meaning?
Looks like internet gambling is about to get its foot in the door.
[ link to this | view in thread ]
hmm..
Here in WA state, its a class C felony...same as child porn and torturing animals (and selling weed, but thats a whole other issue).
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]
[ link to this | view in thread ]