Growing pains over the past year have left the daily fantasy sports industry to "come to grips with a new, tenuous status quo many operators played no part in creating," according to Ryan Kartje of the ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER. There is no longer talk of "complete industry failure" after "aggressive -- and expensive -- lobbying, and that success has inspired 'cautious optimism.'" Getting legalization in New York will be DFS' "most significant legislative victory yet." With a New York bill passed, California "will soon become the industry's most important battleground." At the earliest, the bill "won't be heard in committee until Aug. 9, when lobbyists will likely descend on Sacramento." Fantasy Sports Trade Association President Paul Charchian at an industry conference last month said, "We’re not here to gloss over the bad things or make things look better than they are. We made some mistakes. We were naive about some things." Kartje noted Charchian is eager to "point out that the industry has never been bigger or more flush with customers." However, Fantasy Football Players Championship Owner Dave Gerczak, who only has "two full-time employees," feels that FSTA "has 'abandoned' the rest of the industry." Gerczak: "We, as small businesses, feel like we've been thrown under the bus and run over." But FSTA Chair Peter Schoenke "refutes any notion that the FSTA has turned its back on small business" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 7/14).
OLD BAY BETTING: In Baltimore, Jeff Barker notes Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot on Thursday proposed a "series of rules and restrictions" designed to ensure DFS are operated fairly in the state, "even as renewed doubt was cast about the games' legality under state law." The new regulations -- the first in Maryland -- include "restricting most players' maximum monthly spending to $1,000 and barring sophisticated players from using computer programs that give them an advantage." The rules "wouldn't become effective until at least October." In a Jan. 15 advisory opinion, the Maryland attorney general's office said that DFS games "may not be legal because the issue was not referred to a statewide ballot referendum." Maryland's new rules include "prohibiting players under 18 and games based on amateur sports" (Baltimore SUN, 6/15). In DC, Josh Hicks notes the regulations would "bar game operators from extending credit to members and require the companies to comply with tax laws and notify participants of their potential tax obligations." The rules would not affect "noncommercial fantasy-sports leagues such as those run by Yahoo and ESPN." The initial reaction from the fantasy-sports industry "was positive" (WASHINGTON POST, 7/15).
