A bill legalizing daily fantasy sports in Minnesota was passed with bipartisan support in the House of Representatives on Monday.
The goal of the bill was two-fold, to set standard operating guidelines and to clarify any legal gray areas. Under the bill, daily fantasy sports are classified as a game of skill, not a game of chance, and thus are legal. Legislatures felt it was important to set some ground rules and establish some clear guidelines at a time when many states are attempting to tackle the issue of daily fantasy sports. So far, nine states have banned daily fantasy sports and operators like DraftKings and FanDuel have pulled out of four states, but the passage of the bill means daily fantasy sports in Minnesota are here to stay. Minnesota’s legalization has paved the way for more states to partake in sports betting, fantasy or not. It’s assumed that sometime in the near future Tennessee Sports Betting will be all the rage! The bill, which received bipartisan support, passed with a vote of 100-28. 60 Republicans voted to pass the bill and 11 voted against it, while 40 Democrats supported the bill and 17 voted against it.
“I’m happy that we could pass this bill to guarantee fantasy sports remain legal in Minnesota,” said Rep. Tim Sanders, R-Blaine, in a statement.
Daily Fantasy Sports Regulations
Unlike traditional sports gambling in Vegas (or online if you click here) where bettors wager against a team, score or spread, daily fantasy sports involves selecting a variety of players on different teams competing on that day. Picking a range of individuals who will perform well is seen as a skill, and obviously it would be inherently difficult to rig outcomes like some betting scandals have in the past.
Although the contests have been legalized, they still need to meet a set of operating standards in order to be accepted in Minnesota. The current bill states that for daily fantasy sports sites to operate in Minnesota, the company must:
- Verify that all participants are 18 years old
- Bar athletes and officials from effectively betting on themselves
- Post information on their sites about how to deal with compulsive behavior
- Let players voluntarily ban themselves from the site for a fixed period of time
- Separate players’ accounts from sites’ operating cash and maintain a reserve
- Block tools such as scripts or proxy servers that players could use to gain an advantage
So while daily fantasy sports have been legalized here in Minnesota, like any hobby where the money is on the line, do it responsibly. If you do decide to connect to a game through a proxy server, be sure to contact the room owner (the game you’re playing) so he/ she knows. Be sure to do a Router Reset prior to using the proxy. Play by the rules people.
