Should Congress try to stuff the fantasy sports genie back into a lantern labeled “illegal”?
The federal government’s attempts to suppress online gambling over the years have usually driven it offshore. Now is not the time to renew that counterproductive approach.
True, games like “daily fantasy” football offered by companies such as DraftKings and FanDuel no doubt amount to a form of gambling, even though a 2006 law that allows them to operate — thanks to lobbying by professional sports leagues — classifies them as games of skill. And it is equally true that Congress failed to foresee the explosion of bigtime fantasy sports betting that would follow this exemption.
Moreover, which employees of DraftKings and FanDuel were playing — and winning — on other sites.
Barring employees from betting on any site should have been an elementary precaution to protect the integrity of the games for outside participants. If fantasy companies don’t take the hint and institute measures to ensure a level playing field for all, they’ll be inviting government intervention and regulation.
And at that point deserve it, too.
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