Online Fantasy Sports Should Be Considered Gambling

Gambling is a common practice throughout human history, one that appeals to the individual’s desire for gain and offers the thrill of risk or uncertainty. Sports gambling is the “wagering of money or other items of value on the outcome of a sporting event, dependent either wholly or in part on chance” (Thompson, 2008, p. 1). Sports gambling generates billions of dollars annually, with large events like the Super Bowl or World Series alone able to generate wagers in the billions of dollars. This research will explore the arguments of those who oppose sports gambling and those who support it in order to answer the question: Should sports gambling be legalized?

Gambling is perceived in very different ways by its participants and affected parties. There is a stricter and no tolerance view practiced by the National Collegiate Athletics Association [NCAA] whose role is to govern college athletics. A study conducted by (Nelson, LaBrie, LaPlante, Stanton, Shaffer, & Wechsler, 2007) points out that “…the NCAA membership adopted bylaw 10.3 that prohibits athletics department staff and student-athletes from engaging in gambling activities that relate to intercollegiate or professional sport events.” As stated earlier, the individuals mentioned in The NCAA’s bylaw are not the only people participating in sports related gambling activities. Furthermore these individuals, consisting of college students (student-athletes and non participants), and fans also partake in gambling activities unrelated to sports. Their perception of gambling seems less strict than the NCAA. Previously stated, it is viewed as fun, a way to win money, for excitement or entertainment for student-athletes. This view is also shared by college students that are non participants and fans. Another perspective of a non participant or fan on sports gambling suggested by (Nelson, LaBrie, LaPlante, Stanton, Shaffer, & Wechsler, 2007) states that there are some “…sports fan who might gamble on sports as a way of “being in the game.” In addition, (Nelson, LaBrie, LaPlante, Stanton, Shaffer, & Wechsler, 2007) mentioned that this attitude may stem from there being

While playing a sport in college, athletes have other multiple costs as well. A survey taken in 1989 of college football players resulted in 31% of players that gambled illegally, but 48% of people knew a player that gambled. Players are giving out team information to gamblers, so they can bet more accurately on the game to win money (Porto). Athletes do not have any extra time for a job, so it is difficult for them to make money. A study shows that this has lead some athletes to gambling, which is illegal by the NCAA. This shows that the student-athletes will do whatever it takes to make some money to help pay for other costs.

In 2015, almost every time you turned on your television, you saw a commercial for DraftKings or FanDuel. DraftKings and FanDuel are two separate companies that operate daily fantasy sport leagues. Some of the sports that are featured with the fantasy leagues are baseball, with Major League Baseball, football, with the National Football League, hockey, with the National Hockey League, and basketball, with the National Basketball Association. To get into one of these daily fantasy leagues that DraftKings and FanDuel offer, you have to pay an entry fee. That entry fee determines how much you could possibly win. Daily fantasy sports sites DraftKings and FanDuel shouldn’t be allowed to operate because it is not a game of skill, gambling sites were banned in 2006 by the U.S. Federal Government, and even though it creates money for the economy, many people lose money and sometimes their possessions.

It’s fall, which means that football season is officially back in full swing again. And with that comes fantasy football, a huge highlight for millions of Americans. It is estimated that every year, Americans spend some $15 billion each, roughly $450 per person who plays (that’s roughly 30 million people!) It is a massive, booming industry that seems to only be growing every year. There is a sharp downside to playing fantasy football, however. Gregg Sussman, a fantasy sports analyst working for RotoExperts.com, says that “Money is undeniably a large part of fantasy sports in general. Exchanging money in fantasy sports just makes every play of every game even more intense. For some people, winning is everything; for many, money is much more important than team success.”

Today, it is FanDuel and DraftKings who take advantage of the slow moving government and the unregulated system of daily fantasy sports. In an interview with Matt King, CFO of FanDuel, Walt Bogdanich, investigative journalist, states, “So you don't view what you do here at FanDuel as gambling,” and instantaneously King disagreed by saying, “No … Every time that you talk to our users, what comes through loud and clear is the fact that we're an entertainment product (The Fantasy Sports Gamble).” Basically, Bogdanich asks if King thinks FanDuel is gambling and he spontaneously disagrees that their product was just for the purpose of entertainment. Bogdanich goes on to ask if King believes that their product should be regulated, but King avoids answering with yes or no by saying that their product is all about entertainment value. Don’t get me wrong here, I don’t want to sound like someone who despises fantasy sports, but I just hate the fact that he’s only saying things that his lawyer allowed to him to

Nash Weitzman lost almost $500,000 by betting continuously on fantasy football. On websites like Fanduel and Draftkings, People can join one week leagues to earn money by drafting teams and betting money. If the team that these people draft win, then the person receives money. Should it be legal to bet on this? Forbes.com says that “Playing fantasy football for money is very likely illegal.” In some states, it is illegal to gamble, but not illegal to bet on fantasy football websites. There is also an argument on why betting on fantasy football should stay legal.

In states where DFS are currently legal DFS sites operate within the confines of the existing laws, and they should be considered completely legal under the current law. Most states currently permit DFS, as they are not seen as predominantly games of chance (Huffman, 2014). Miller & Singer present the widely cited statistic that 91 percent of all DFS profits are won by just 1.3% of players (2015). This statistic shows that there has to be some talent involved in DFS for a few individual to collect the majority of the profits. If DFS was entirely based off of chance the profits would be distributed in a random manner. Since the UIGEA explicitly permitting fantasy sports that are (1) for a value not dependent by the amount of participants or fees, (2) not dependent on the outcome of any real-world games, and (3) determined by the skill of the participants DFS are legal federally (Huffman, 2014). Additionally, the determination of the skill component is entirely left up to the individual states to decide what constitutes a game of chance and what constitutes a game of skill (Huffman, 2014). Most states use the predominant purpose test to determine whether to classify a game as a game of chance

Although the federal government does not consider the activities of fantasy sports betting as gambling, 11 states currently deem it illegal and 20 more states are currently evaluating the legality of daily fantasy betting. The significance of this case stems from the fact that New York state is the largest market for both FanDuel and DraftKings. With 600,000 customers in the state and $200 million in entry fees last year alone, both daily fantasy companies are extremely vested in winning this case and have appealed the injunction. Daily fantasy sports companies argue that the attorney general hasn’t properly evaluated the assertion that fantasy betting requires a material degree of skill rather than luck.

I set out to analyze the extent to which fantasy sports affected the social bonds established by traditional sports. The expected result was that as involvement in fantasy sports increased, social reasons for enjoying sports would decrease. I focused the research on fantasy football for convenience purposes, as it is the largest and most active of the fantasy sports communities. Furthermore, as I participate in fantasy football myself, I already had an understanding of not only the specific knowledge and jargon, but also of the current trends and developments. This allowed me to gear the research towards this particular community, and helped connect to respondents as one of their own as opposed to an outsider.

Fantasy sports have become very popular among sports consumers and fantasy football is the leading fantasy sport. This research aspired to gain an understanding of fantasy football and the motivations behind playing. This is important because there has not been a lot of research done on fantasy football and it is becoming very important in the sports world. I participated in one fantasy football league and observed another when the groups would get together to watch the games every week. I also conducted interviews from the members of the groups. It was found that the three main motivations were social bonding, bragging rights, and competition. There was another theme that arose from the research and that was about gambling, specifically if fantasy football were to become illegal how it

“According to the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, there are now 33 million people playing fantasy football each year.” (Steinberg) Fantasy Football is one of the biggest phenomenons in the United States; it is an interactive online game where the users interact with one another as coaches of their specifically drafted football team. The users get to pick the NFL players they want through their very own draft. Their players earn points depending on how they play in reality. Fantasy Football has become one of the most frequently used and convenient way for fans to know the stats of their favorite players.

In most gambling games the chances of winning are almost always a 50/50 chance. Also statistics show that people who play daily fantasy get progressively better the more they play. In contrast to gambling where one person can win all night, and then the next day lose everything. Regular Fantasy sports don’t seem to be an issue despite betting involved in many leagues nationwide. Daily Fantasy is just a regular fantasy sports game that is accelerated to a day.

In recent years, Daily Fantasy Sports have been the topic of debate on whether they are a game of skill or game of chance. Specifically, sites such as DraftKings.com and FanDual.com have been under scrutiny of state officials. New York State Attorney General wrote, “Our review concludes that DraftKings'/FanDuel's operations constitute illegal gambling under New York law” (ESPN.com). The companies that run these daily fantasy sports and people that participate in daily sports argue that it is a game of skill rather than a game of chance, and therefore not gambling. On the other side of the debate, the states of Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, and Washington have banned the use of Daily Fantasy Sports due to the fact that they believe

Most of us have heard of fantasy football. Online fantasy has risen in popularity over the past couple of years, due to advances in technology. With this rise in popularity, it has raised eyebrows at the state and federal government levels. There are many grey areas when it comes to gambling online, that many people still don’t understand. Many questions are being asked, such as legal transactions with credit cards, is online gambling causing a problem with a rise in gambling addiction? Over the course of this report, I will go over the good and the bad of making online gambling legal and regulated.