Fantasy football is alive and well in Indiana, but legislators may seek legal protections for players.
New York's attorney general has asked a judge to declare fantasy league sites like Draft Kings and Fan Duel illegal gambling.
Rep. Alan Morrison (R-Terre Haute) says he's not looking to ban the leagues -- he says they're games of skill.
“It’s not been viewed as gambling, I think, throughout the country up to this point and I think that it’s fair to look at it as a game of skill and that’s how we’re going to move forward with it,” Morrison says.
But Morrison says the explosion of fantasy leagues with cash prizes requires coverage from consumer protection laws.
“We’re dealing with billions and billions of dollars and when you have an industry that is moving that much money around, I think you do want to make sure that you keep an eye on it and you make sure that the integrity of the game and those consumer protections are in place,” Morrison says.
He says he and Sen. Jon Ford (R-Terre Haute) will propose age verification of fantasy owners, and a ban on participation by site employees or their relatives.
Draft Kings and Fan Duel voluntarily banned employees last month from betting on any fantasy sports site, days after revelations that a Draft Kings employee won $350,000 on Fan Duel.
And Morrison says he'll also reintroduce a proposal to let Indiana's two racinos operate fantasy games, as long as players are assembling full fantasy rosters, not betting on the score, point spread, or the performances of individual players or teams. That bill didn't receive a hearing last session.
A spokesman says Attorney General Greg Zoeller is reviewing one complaint about Fan Duel. He's not commenting on whether he thinks the sites are legal.
