The state Gaming Commission tried on Thursday to figure out what the state should do, if anything, about fantasy sports sites, however the Commission has yet to come to a conclusion.
In considering fantasy sports sites like FanDuel and Boston-based Draft Kings, Chair Steven Crosby said his Gaming Commission has two questions: “Should it be regulated, and if so, what needs to be regulated?”
His fellow commission raised a range of concerns about consumer protections. Bruce Stebbins said unlike a casino, the sites don’t include any process for complaining if something’s gone wrong.
“And one of these sites even said that one of the principles for agreeing to play is that you will not be allowed to participate in a class-action lawsuit,” says Stebbins.
Commissioner Enrique Zuniga said at casinos, players can’t gamble with credit cards, but online gaming can get people in credit trouble. He raised the issue that the fantasy sites say picking football players is a game of skill.
“But even Tom Brady has a bad day once in a while,” says Zuniga. “And there’s that element of chance.”
Commissioner Gayle Cameron said fantasy sports gamers tend to be young men - a group at a high risk for gambling addiction. Cameron just got back from an international meeting of gaming regulators, and said this topic was a hot one.
“A lot of issues to think about,” she says. “A lot of opportunity for individuals to A, have a problem with this, and B, not have the right protections in place in this industry. So I certainly came away thinking there are issues here, and I, as one commissioner, think that there is a need to regulate this industry.”
And while Chair Steven Crosby agreed, he seemed cautious about what the Commission should recommend. “We don’t necessarily set up a regulatory body for every industry that needs to be regulated.”
Crosby said the sites are already regulated, to some degree, by consumer protection laws. And he said Massachusetts needs to be careful not to inadvertently crush these businesses under taxes and regulations.
“We don’t want to kibosh that industry, unless we decide want to kibosh that industry,” Crosby says. “We don’t want to do it by accident.”
The CEO of FanDuel just released a statement supporting protections for their users, like age and location verification, protection of user information, and mandatory third-party audits. But an attorney for the company, Stephen Martino, said Massachusetts shouldn’t go too far.
“I think we would be concerned about imposing a regulatory construct on to this industry, that was really developed for brick and mortar casinos.”
The Gaming Commission plans to meet with experts to develop a document of recommendations it will share with the Governor, legislature and state attorney general.