New York DFS Hearing Leaves the Industry Hopeful

This is the week for gambling hearings in the US as the RAWA hearing was scheduled on December 9th and the New York Assembly committees for Racing and Wagering, Consumer Affairs and the Protection and Legislative Commission on Administrative Regulation met on Tuesday. The discussion covered daily fantasy sports and has reportedly been successful in terms of the selection of balanced experts and dialogue between committee members. Industry observers say that DFS is moving in a direction toward licensing and regulation in the state of New York. The process is one that is being watched quite closely by other states that are considering how to handle the DFS industry going forward. The Committee for Racing and Wagering chairman, J. Gary Pretlow kicked off the meeting by saying: “First, let me just state that we're not here to litigate the legality of fantasy sports. That is in the courts right now, and regardless as to what the outcome of that case is, what we're interested in is regulation, licensure, consumer protection.” The general overall impression was that lawmakers would prefer to implement licensing and regulation as opposed to banning DFS but the first matter to be settled is whether or not it constitutes gambling. New York AG Eric T. Schneiderman has taken the matter to the courts for an opinion on whether DFS violates current New York law. The following industry experts spoke at the hearing: · The chairman of the Fantasy Sports Association, Peter Schoenke · Legal experts Randy Mastro and Jeremy Kudon · DraftKings legal representative and counsel, Jonathan Schiller · FanDuel counsel on policy and government, Cory Fox · Batavia Downs Gaming exec Michael Nolan · Coalition Against Gambling representative Stephen Shafer · New York Council on Problem Gaming representative James Maney · Online gambling opponent Les Bernal, representing Stop Predatory Gambling · Gambling Compliance analyst Kevin Cochran The hearing lasted for five hours leading to chairman Pretlow's closing comment, “This is a much more complex issue than just saying 'make it legal.' There are a lot of nuances involved.”