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Illinois and Maryland lawmakers are considering new rules for their respective states’ daily fantasy sports laws.
An Illinois legislator has proposed a new bill to establish a Fantasy Sports Consumer Protection Act, to completely regulate daily fantasy sports in the Prairie State. Additionally, a Maryland lawmaker has proposed a new bill to allow for a new type of daily fantasy sports market in state.
Daily fantasy sports (DFS) operators are live in both states, but Maryland is the only market out of the two with a regulated DFS industry.
Bringing Illinois into the Legal Light
Sen. Lakeisha Collins (D-5) introduced SB 1224, the Fantasy Sports Consumer Protection Act, to completely regulate the DFS industry in Illinois. While DFS operators currently offer DFS games in the state, they do so in a gray area, and this bill will establish DFS license fees and tax rates.
The bill has been referred to the assignments committee.
The bill establishes DFS license fees for operators that were live in the state before the bill’s effective date shall be 8% of its adjusted gross fantasy contest receipts from the preceding calendar year, or $1 million, whichever is less.
Initial license fees for an operator not in the state for at least 12 months before the effective date of the bill will be $10,000, except, if an operator has 10,000 or more fantasy contest participants in Illinois with an active account who participated in at least in at least one fantasy contest with an entry fee, then the operator will notify the Illinois Gaming Board and remit an application fee in the amount of $990,000 within 10 days.
The bill also establishes legal DFS contests, which includes specific player vs. the house markets.
“Fantasy contest includes both contests wherein participants compete against each other and contests wherein only a single participant competes against a target score set by the fantasy contest operator. Fantasy contest does not include any fantasy contest without an entry fee.”
The bill includes a DFS tax rate of at least 10 %, but not more than 15% of an operators adjusted gross fantasy contest revenues, as determined by the Illinois Gaming Board.
Maryland Considering Player vs. House Contests
Maryland, which has a regulated DFS market, is considering a revamp of its DFS rules. In early 2024, several DFS operators in Maryland had to repeal games that saw users competing against the house after a regulatory mandate prohibited the types of contests in the Old Line state.
Sen. Jim Rosapepe (D-21) and Sen. Paul D. Corderman (R-2) introduced bill SB 470 to allow for these types of games.
If approved, the bill defines for the following contests:
- A participant competes against other participants
- Subject to the provisions of the subtitle, a single participant competes against a statistical measurement established by the fantasy competition operator
Robert is an expert on sports betting in the United States, specifically the legalization process and regulation surrounding the industry.
