Weekly and daily fantasy sports leagues have moved rapidly from a niche market to a force to be reckoned with.
Nowhere is this dynamic more evident than in the United States, where fantasy sports are the only, readily available, form of legal sports wagering. Not only have the major sports leagues embraced DFS, so have revenue-hungry US States.
If you’ve been considering moving into the hot, hot sports betting vertical, here are two recent events that occurred Kansas that should confirm that you’re on the right track.
Kansas Approves DFS
After much debate, the Kansas State Legislature has approved a measure defining weekly and daily fantasy sports as, games of skill, rather than games of chance. As such, DFS can be regulated in a manner that protects players from unscrupulous fantasy sports operators.
In describing the goal of legalizing DFS, the bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Brett Hildabrand, said:
so many Kansans participate in this and we want to make sure that they’re operating on the right side of the law.
With Kansas on board, DFS remains illegal in only five US States including, Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana and Washington
MLB Want to Compete
In a speech earlier this week, in Kansas of all places, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred made many of the same points as the Kansas State House did. Manfred also added a few words about DFS’ ability to help MLB retain younger fans:
We made an agreement with DraftKings after a really thorough review of the games and after we satisfied ourselves that they fell on the fantasy side of the line. I think that that fantasy space, the DraftKings, FanDuel kind of space, is really important to the engagement of young people. … I think it’s important for us to be competitive in that space.
With so many friends in high places, especially major leagues sports commissioners who see daily fantasy sports as an end run around the sports betting ban, DFS seems to have a very bright future in the US.