NY Introduces Legislation to Regulate DFS

The daily fantasy sports industry got good news at the end of May, as the NY State Legislature has introduced a bill to legalize and regulate DFS.

Since late 2015, daily fantasy sports have been banned in the state of New York. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman maintained the DFS constituted gambling, and sent cease and desist letter to the two major DFS websites in the US. Less than two weeks ago, gambling news was announced that the NY Legislature introduced legislation to legalize and regulate DFS in the state.

This is huge news for the daily fantasy sports industry. NY’s ruling on DFS has given daily fantasy sports a bad look, and has likely made other states question whether to allow daily fantasy sport contests as well. The return of DFS’ two major websites to NY will help to re-introduce DFS in a good light here.

DFS Websites Stand to Profit from this Legislation

Many DFS websites are likely celebrating the news to regulate DFS, as New York has historically been one of the largest playing states of daily fantasy sports. Hundreds of thousands of people in this state reportedly play DFS, with that number likely to grow after this bill gets passed.

One reason why there are such a large number of DFS players in New York is the states’ success in major sports. NY has extremely popular sports teams in baseball, basketball, and football. Many New Yorkers are hardcore sports fans, and DFS contests such as daily fantasy baseball and daily fantasy football have become extremely popular here.

It remains to be seen whether this ruling will have an effect on other states that ban daily fantasy sports for money. As of now, there are 5 states without outright bans, and a number of others with legislation that is pending.

GamingZion had examined the legality of daily fantasy sports in each US state. To find if DFS is legal in your state, check out our DFS page here.