The post Colorado Regulator Appears Poised To Ban All Fantasy Pick’Em Contests appeared first on SportsHandle.
As the Colorado Division of Gaming continues the process of crafting its fantasy sports regulations, a representative from PrizePicks on Monday said the regulator had evolved from one of the “most progressive to one of the most restrictive regimes” in the country over the last year.
The comment from Josh Kirschner on behalf of PrizePicks came during a Division of Gaming rulemaking hearing Monday. It’s been five months since the state hired a new gaming chief after Dan Hartman retired. Colorado is the latest venue in which fantasy sports operators are fighting to have certain styles of pick’em contests included in rules across the country. In the last month, regulators in Michigan and New York have banned some pick’em contests, which they say too closely resemble sports betting.
Based on the latest proposed changes, it appears that Colorado is heading toward banning all kinds of fantasy pick’em contests, including single- and multi-player. The perceived problem is in customers playing against the house vs. other players.
The Michigan Gaming Control Board on Oct. 11 voted to ban some pick’em style games weeks after the New York State Gambling Commission on Oct. 3 voted to ban some pick’em contests.
In both Michigan and New York, single-player pick’em contests were banned, but it appears that Colorado is headed toward banning all pick’em contests.
DraftKings, FanDuel stand to benefit
The latest changes in Colorado would favor major sports betting operators like DraftKings and FanDuel, both of which started as daily fantasy companies and still operate fantasy contests across the U.S. But for companies like PrizePicks or Underdog, which is licensed in three states for sports betting but hasn’t launched, the changes could cut into what they consider a growing sector of fantasy sports.
Kirschner also pointed to other issues in Colorado, including an assertion that the regulator is moving in a direction that seems to be at odds with the current law, which requires the state to promulgate specific rules around fantasy. Kirschner suggested that the DOG was instead taking what’s legal for sports betting and attempting to apply it to fantasy, rather than developing fantasy rules independently.
Another item at issue is that in the current version of the Colorado proposed rules, fantasy contests are defined as those that require “adding together the fantasy points from two or more players or positions,” which differs from the standard definition, which says such contests are based on an “accumulation” of points.
The public comment period on the proposed rules is open until 5 p.m. Friday. After that, the DOG will likely consider and potentially incorporate additional changes before the rules would be voted on at a future Limited Gaming Commission meeting.
The post Colorado Regulator Appears Poised To Ban All Fantasy Pick’Em Contests appeared first on SportsHandle.
