Kansas Passes Bill To Legalize Fantasy Sports

[Greg Ambrosius]

There is momentum building in the fantasy sports industry among the states to legalize pay-to-play games. The growth of the Daily Fantasy Sports industry is pushing states to fine-tune their state gambling laws to allow DFS to be played by their state residents. Even a state like Kansas, that isn't one of the five exempt states, passed a law today to make sure state residents know they can play fantasy sports games with cash prizes.

Louisiana is one of the five exempt states and yesterday the House overwhelmingly passed a law to legalize fantasy sports in that state. It still has to pass the Senate to become law, but that could happen in the next 2 to 3 weeks. It's not a slam dunk that the Senate will pass it, but the momentum is there for that to happen.

Here's the latest legal update from LegalReport.com:

Kansas Fantasy Sports Bill Nears Finish Line, Reaches Governor’s Desk After Passing State Legislature
Dustin Gouker, May 7, 2015 10:01 PDT@DustinGouker
Welcome To Kansas

Smooth sailing so far

HB 2155 is a wide-ranging bill that legalizes fantasy sports in the state, as well as dealing with charitable gaming, bingo, raffles and the lottery.

On Thursday, the House passed the bill 98-21. The opposition came mostly from Democrats along party lines, and was not tied to the fantasy sports portion of the bill. On Tuesday, the bill passed the state senate by a vote of 37-1.

That means the last hurdle for the bill is a signature from Governor Sam Brownback, a Republican. Given the lack of opposition in the legislature — the Kansas house and senate are highly Republican — the odds of Brownback signing the bill into law seem good.

Why the bill?
Kansas state representative Brett Hildabrand deemed the legislation to be necessary because of the stance taken by the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission. That governmental organization had said that it considers daily fantasy sports contests to be an illegal lottery, under state law, even though there had been no enforcement actions against real-money daily fantasy sports.

The bill got on a fast-track after an opinion from the Kansas attorney general, saying HB 2155 did not violate the state constitution.

Despite the KRGC’s stance and the pending bill in Kansas, most sites accept players there already. Among major DFS sites, it is believed only Star Fantasy Leagues does not accept players from Kansas. Currently, most DFS sites do not operate in five states.

The current state climate
The last time a bill dealing with real-money online fantasy games became a law in a state was Maryland back in 2012.

There are currently six active bills dealing with fantasy sports played online. Here are the other five:

Louisiana has some momentum, with a bill legalizing fantasy sports passing the state House on Wednesday. The legislation has been received by the Senate and is pending floor debate and a vote.

Iowa seemed to be moving quickly on a DFS legalization bill, after passage in the Senate. The bill has not reached the House floor, yet, however.

Washington introduced a bill in January and held a committee hearing, but the bill has been in limbo ever since. The debate over the bill several months ago muddied the waters for its potential, as legislators called into question DFS and its differences from season-long fantasy and similarities to gambling.

In Illinois, a pending bill is just a stub, with no content. Its direction is to be determined, perhaps as early as later this month.

In Texas, a bill would regulate and license DFS operators, in addition to dealing with sports betting in the same legislation. No progress has been made since its introduction.

Louisiana, Washington and Iowa are the states with pending legislation where DFS sites do not currently operate. A bill in Montana stalled earlier this year, and a fantasy bill in Arizona failed last year.

There are also bills in Indiana and Pennsylvania that would legalize fantasy sports to be held in brick-and-mortar gaming establishments.

[COZ]

Oh, so kind of big government to finally grant Kansasians their stamp of approval and finally grant their freedom on this issue. Maybe citizens should have complete freedom FIRST, until "our" representatives determine its illegal, and then only ban something once hearings and education has occurred. So typical of what our country has become, ban first, then lobbying, hearings, and finally a bill to "legalize." And I'm sure a bunch of politicians are seeking their political platidues and boquets over legalization over such a harmless & fun activity. Thanks government for finally "legalizing" something which should have never been outlawed to begin with. Digusts me that we even act like this is something to celebrate. Freedom should be the default, not granted upon us by our representatives as if doing a favor through the passage of laws " legalizing" it.

COZ

[Fourslot40]

It's not so much about freedoms as it is about money. Have you seen what Atlantic City looks like about a 1/2 mile from the fancy casinos? It's a slum land. It's about folks that gamble all they have and commit crimes to continue their addiction. The key is ADDICTION. No one wants to hear it. Government wants to do the right thing, but you can't fight numbers. At the end of the day money will win out.

[TOXIC ASSETS]

Oh, so kind of big government to finally grant Kansasians their stamp of approval and finally grant their freedom on this issue. Maybe citizens should have complete freedom FIRST, until "our" representatives determine its illegal, and then only ban something once hearings and education has occurred. So typical of what our country has become, ban first, then lobbying, hearings, and finally a bill to "legalize." And I'm sure a bunch of politicians are seeking their political platidues and boquets over legalization over such a harmless & fun activity. Thanks government for finally "legalizing" something which should have never been outlawed to begin with. Digusts me that we even act like this is something to celebrate. Freedom should be the default, not granted upon us by our representatives as if doing a favor through the passage of laws " legalizing" it.

COZ

COZ that is one of the best postings I have ever seen on these boards. Sounds like something I could have written word for word. This country has been headed in the wrong direction ever since Ronald Reagan finished his presidency. I say do what Reagan said -- shut down the government and see if anyone notices. Freedom has been replaced every step of the way with big government, socialism, more regulations, more bureaucrats, more laws, more everything except common sense. Obama's latest idea is that everyone should be REQUIRED to vote. Are you f***ing kidding me? I'm in the George Carlin mentality on this issue. People who don't vote have EVERY right to complain -- since those are the people who DIDN'T cause the mess in the first place. And no way, no how should I be required to vote. If I see a candidate I like, then yeah, I'll vote. If they all suck --- count me out.

Kudos - if I ever meet up with you at a draft, first beer is on me.

[KJ Duke]

Now I can fulfill my lifelong dream of moving to Kansas.

And I agree with COZ. Lawmakers as umpires would call every pitch a strike and only change their mind after reviewing video evidence to the contrary ...and they'd only review the evidence if there was something in it for them.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Great posts, but in the meantime we still have five exempt states in our country whose politicians are protecting Indian casinos and state lotteries at the expense of fantasy sports. And Kansas wasn't even one of them, yet we're applauding the politicians there who "made" fantasy sports legal by law. It's a win, I guess.

If the Louisiana Senate agrees with the House in 2 or 3 weeks and passes that law, it will be a big win for the industry. Basically they are just enacting the same language in the federal carveout bill that was passed in 2006. It's something that Arizona could easily follow and maybe even Washington. Iowa is also close, so things could really build in a hurry. Let's keep our eyes on Louisiana because getting that bill passed before the start of the football season really would be a big win.

But I'm with ya: Less government regulation is good for all of us.

[Tom Kessenich]

Now I can fulfill my lifelong dream of moving to Kansas.

KJ?

[KJ Duke]

Exactly Tom. I'll be moving just as soon as a tornado picks me up in San Diego and drops me down in Topeka.

[BEF]

This country has been headed in the wrong direction ever since Ronald Reagan finished his presidency. I say do what Reagan said -- shut down the government and see if anyone notices. Freedom has been replaced every step of the way with big government, socialism, more regulations, more bureaucrats, more laws, more everything except common sense. Obama's latest idea is that everyone should be REQUIRED to vote. Are you f***ing kidding me? I'm in the George Carlin mentality on this issue. People who don't vote have EVERY right to complain -- since those are the people who DIDN'T cause the mess in the first place. And no way, no how should I be required to vote. If I see a candidate I like, then yeah, I'll vote. If they all suck --- count me out.

I am not going to start a political discussion, because these Boards are not the place for it. Which is my exact point; this forum is not for political statements/rants. Whether or not I or others are offended by the content is irrelevant. The quote above has nothing to do with the purpose of these Boards. Nothing to do with baseball, real or fantasy. Sir, with all due respect, please post these types of statements at another site, in a political forum. They do not belong here. Thank you for your consideration.

[EWeaver]

This country has been headed in the wrong direction ever since Ronald Reagan finished his presidency. I say do what Reagan said -- shut down the government and see if anyone notices. Freedom has been replaced every step of the way with big government, socialism, more regulations, more bureaucrats, more laws, more everything except common sense. Obama's latest idea is that everyone should be REQUIRED to vote. Are you f***ing kidding me? I'm in the George Carlin mentality on this issue. People who don't vote have EVERY right to complain -- since those are the people who DIDN'T cause the mess in the first place. And no way, no how should I be required to vote. If I see a candidate I like, then yeah, I'll vote. If they all suck --- count me out.

I am not going to start a political discussion, because these Boards are not the place for it. Which is my exact point; this forum is not for political statements/rants. Whether or not I or others are offended by the content is irrelevant. The quote above has nothing to do with the purpose of these Boards. Nothing to do with baseball, real or fantasy. Sir, with all due respect, please post these types of statements at another site, in a political forum. They do not belong here. Thank you for your consideration.

your post had nothing to do with baseball, real or fantasy. thanks!

[TOXIC ASSETS]

These boards are exactly the place for good discussion. Considering that the boards have almost gone silent - you should be happy that we have some decent readings on here. Mr. Ambrosius seemed to like these postings.

One other comment - if the boards are 'only supposed to be about baseball', then what do you say about MTM's scantily clad ladies that are all over his postings. Can't have it both ways.

I'm a free speech guy -- always have been. Don't like the posts? Don't read them. But don't shut down my free speech rights, as long as I'm being respectful of other's opinions. Which I am.

Happy Saturday.

[KJ Duke]

Message boards should be conversational and there's nothing wrong with someone giving their view on something that flows from any conversation that's going on. The more the better so long as there's intelligent thought behind it.

[Edwards Kings]

Exactly Tom. I'll be moving just as soon as a tornado picks me up in San Diego and drops me down in Topeka.

KJ Duke...in Topeka? hmmmm....

[KJ Duke]

Wayne, we used to grow field corn in Michigan. And we had sweet corn in the garden.
These days, however, I'd rather just go to a weekend farmer's market in the city.