Is a Daily Fantasy Sports Ban coming?

Many in the sports betting industry and other gambling-related realms have cried hypocrisy regarding how daily fantasy sports operate unchecked in the United States. But the tide may be turning, with New Jersey House Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. calling for a Congressional meeting on the subject.

Like many Americans, Pallone has noticed the massive influx of daily fantasy sports (DFS) commercials that have flooded TV stations in recent months. And the Democrat believes that, regardless of how mainstream DFS sites are, they hold the potential for danger.

“Anyone who watched a game this weekend was inundated by commercials for fantasy sports websites and it’s only the first week of the NFL season,” Pallone says. “These sites are enormously popular, arguably central to the fans’ experience, and professional leagues are seeing enormous profits as a result. Despite how mainstream these sites have become, though, the legal landscape governing these activities remains murky and should be reviewed.”

It’s no coincidence that the congressman spearheading this idea is from New Jersey, a state that’s fought for legal sports betting over the past few years. The Garden State has been unsuccessful in their bid for legalized sports betting, causing some political leaders in the state to question why DFS is legal in all but five U.S. states.

This is especially the case when considering that there’s absolutely no regulation in the industry. And there are already rumors that smaller DFS sites are having trouble paying their customers while giants like DraftKigs and FanDuel dominate the market.

Such problems were apparent in the unregulated online poker market, with multiple examples of sites that eventually folded up while stiffing their customers. It’s very possible that such problems could arise in the DFS market without any sort of government regulation.

If there’s a catalyst that helps keep these sites going, it comes in the form of professional sports leagues’ relationships with DFS. The NFL has especially benefited from the rise of fantasy sports because it keeps casual fan interest high in multiple games, rather than just their favorite team.

Meanwhile, the NFL has spent countless dollars to lobby Congress into keeping sports betting illegal. The fear, which many have questioned if it’s relevant today, is that another Chicago Black Sox Scandal of 1919 could arise. But the fear among Congressmen like Pallone is that an unchecked fantasy sports world could be far more dangerous, especially if some sites begin short-changing their customers.