Fantasy Sports Sites Could Become Legal In Louisiana
While the Louisiana Senate Finance Committee was effectively killing sports wagering in the state yesterday the Louisiana House of Representatives was approving a ballot initiative that would allow third-party fantasy sports wagering in the state. Consistency, it's what our state government is all about right?
For the past several football seasons listeners and viewers of New Orleans Saints games have been brutally subjected to advertisements for DraftKings and FanDuel. The sheer volume of the number of times those commercials ran during a game is enough to make you want to call Than Merrill star of A&E's Flip This House and beg him to run his nauseating commercial a few more times.
Using sites like FanDuel and DraftKings are against the law in Louisiana, however, this vote by the House could soon make it possible for people with fewer dollars than sense to throw their cash away on a smartphone app that will allow them to start Blaine Gabbert over Drew Brees in a make-believe football game.
The fact that players actually choose their team has been defined as skill and that's what makes playing fantasy football, not gambling. Since gambling is not so much about skill, just ask any poker player, it's all luck. That, by the way, is sarcasm.
The fantasy sports measure will now move over to the Senate for consideration. Should the Senate pass the proposal these fantasy sites still won't be available in Louisiana for a while. This legislation would only put the issue on the ballot in November for voters to decide. Then comes the sticky wicket of deciding how to regulate and tax the cash flow generated by this non-gambling (but it really is) activity.