![\"fantasy](\"https:\/\/playtoday.co\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/fantasy-sports-betting-1160x663.png\")
<\/p>\nBy: Nadia Farashahi<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the past decade or two, the way people engage with sports has shifted from physical participation to digital experiences. Technology has enabled fans to incorporate both professional and amateur events in their personal entertainment.[1]<\/a> Many people are acquainted with betting on game outcomes in the style of Las Vegas. Now, modern technologies have also \u201cfacilitated vicarious involvement by allowing sports fans to become \u2018part of the action\u2019 by engaging in fantasy sports.\u201d[2]<\/a> Fantasy sports leagues are contests where participants compete against one another using fictional teams. These fictional teams are \u201carranged in virtual leagues and are comprised of actual athletes who are deemed to \u2018play\u2019 for them.\u201d[3]<\/a> Outcomes are based on preset scoring systems linked to the statistical performance of players in actual sporting events.[4]<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n At the start of the fantasy sports industry, drafts were completed on the phone and fantasy experts were few and far between.[5]<\/a> With advancements in technology, online commissioner services were able to bring fantasy sports leagues online.[6]<\/a> Computers could to provide instantaneous access to data concerning different games and players.[7]<\/a> And especially with fantasy football, the biggest fantasy sports league, this step to the online realm made a huge difference in growing its audience.[8]<\/a><\/p>\n This expansion and popularity brought with it concerns about gambling. The National Football League itself saw fantasy football as too close to gambling for comfort.[9]<\/a> But in the United States, this determination of whether a contest is a game of skill or gambling is up to each individual state.[10]<\/a> Many states prohibit gambling where participants pay to receive winnings based entirely on chance.[11]<\/a> However, in states where gambling is legal, this type of gambling is normally strongly restricted. Given this contention, most states allow fantasy sports, even those that are pay-to-play leagues, contingent on the idea that \u201cwinning\u201d does not depend on the result of an actual game.[12]<\/a> Participation in fantasy sports leagues focuses on a myriad of factors that must be taken into account, including injuries, coaching styles, prospects, weather patterns, depth charts, etc.[13]<\/a> A 2018 study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology found that the game of fantasy football is \u201cinherently a contest that rewards skill.\u201d[14]<\/a><\/p>\n On the federal level, Congress passed the Uniform Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) in 2006 to address gambling on the internet.[15]<\/a> The UIGEA prohibits any person engaged in the business of betting from \u201cknowingly accepting credit, electronic fund transfers, checks, or any other payment involving a financial institution to settle unlawful internet gambling debts.[16]<\/a> This federal law was meant to serve as a supplement to state gambling laws, explicitly stating that none of its provisions shall be construed as \u201caltering, limiting, or extending any federal or state law that regulates gambling in the United States.[17]<\/a><\/p>\n While there are various federal laws that address gambling, the UIGEA contains a direct reference to fantasy sports leagues.[18]<\/a> In the definitions section of the UIGEA, the term \u201cunlawful internet gambling\u201d is defined as:<\/p>\n \u00a0plac[ing], receiv[ing], or otherwise transmit[ing] a bet or wager<\/em> by any means which involves the use, at least in part, of the internet where such bet or wager is unlawful under any applicable Federal or State law in the State or Tribal lands in which the bet or wager is initiated, received, or otherwise made.\u201d[19]<\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0Within the definitions section, the UIGEA creates a carve out for fantasy sports betting, stating that the term \u201cbet or wager\u201d does not include \u201cparticipation in any fantasy or simulation sports game . . .\u201d given certain conditions are met.[20]<\/a> Thus, under federal law, fantasy sports leagues are legal games of skill.<\/p>\n More recently, fantasy sports\u2019 legal has become even clearer. In 2018, the Supreme Court decided Murphy v. National Collegiate Athletic Association<\/em> and struck down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act, which banned states and individuals from operating sports-gambling schemes.[21]<\/a> States were now able to legalize sports betting within their own borders if they chose to do so, and \u201cthe fantasy industry rejoiced.\u201d[22]<\/a> Greg Ambrosius, founder of the National Fantasy Baseball and Fantasy Football Championship, commented on this Supreme Court decision, stating that \u201c[i]f sports betting is [okay], then certainly fantasy sports is [okay].\u201d[23]<\/a> Although the UIGEA still provides a framework for what types of online gambling are allowed, the Murphy<\/em> decision firmly established each state\u2019s right to regulate sports betting. Therefore, in the states that legalize sports gambling, \u201cthere will be no real risk that fantasy sports erroneously will be deemed illegal sports gambling as sports gambling itself will not be illegal.\u201d[24]<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Robert B. Frazier, Don\u2019t bet on it: Allowing a fantasy sports league may be gambling with legal trouble<\/em>, kirton mcconkie (Feb. 2016), https:\/\/www.kirtonmcconkie.com\/publication-363<\/a>.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Steve Gardner, Money. Power. Women. The driving forces behind fantasy football\u2019s skyrocketing popularity<\/em>, usa today (Dec. 20, 2023, 1:12 AM), https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/sports\/nfl\/fantasy\/2023\/12\/15\/fantasy-football-sports-economy\/71870731007\/.<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n [7]<\/a> See<\/em> Frazier, supra <\/em>note 1.<\/p>\n [8]<\/a> Gardner, supra <\/em>note 5.<\/p>\n [9]<\/a> Gardner, supra <\/em>note 5.<\/p>\n [10]<\/a> Distinguishing Fantasy Sports From Sports Betting<\/em>, fantasy sports & gaming ass\u2019n, https:\/\/thefsga.org\/distinguishin.g-fantasy-sports-from-sports-betting\/.<\/p>\n [11]<\/a> Frazier, supra <\/em>note 1.<\/p>\n [12]<\/a> Frazier, supra <\/em>note 1.<\/p>\n [13]<\/a> Distinguishing Fantasy Sports From Sports Betting, supra <\/em>note 10.<\/p>\n [14]<\/a> Distinguishing Fantasy Sports From Sports Betting, supra <\/em>note 10.<\/p>\n [15]<\/a> Kevin Vela, Why Playing Fantasy Sports Is Legal (For the Most Part)<\/em>, vela wood (Oct. 7, 2013), \u00a0https:\/\/velawood.com\/why-playing-fantasy-sports-is-legal-for-the-most-part\/.<\/p>\n [16]<\/a> 31 U.S.C.A. \u00a7 5363 (West 2006).<\/p>\n [17]<\/a> Vela, supra <\/em>note 15; see<\/em> 31 U.S.C.A. \u00a7 5363 (West 2006).<\/p>\n [18]<\/a> Kevin Vela, Why Playing Fantasy Sports Is Legal (For the Most Part) Part II, <\/em>vela wood (Jan. 15, 2024), https:\/\/velawood.com\/why-playing-fantasy-sports-is-legal-for-the-most-part-part-ii\/.<\/p>\n [19]<\/a> 31 U.S.C.A. \u00a7 5362 (West 2006) (emphasis added).<\/p>\n [20]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n [21]<\/a> 584 U.S. 453 (2018).<\/p>\n [22]<\/a> Gardner, supra <\/em>note 5.<\/p>\n [23]<\/a> Gardner, supra <\/em>note 5.<\/p>\n