Virginia becomes the first to formally legalise daily fantasy sports

A big day for DFS in the United States as Virginia has become the first state to formally legalise daily fantasy sports. 

On Monday 8th March a law was passed, the ‘Fantasy Contests Act’ which will allow the likes of FanDuel, DraftKings and others to legally offer paid contests in Virginia. DFS operators will be hoping that the state has blazed a trail and that other will follow suit, following a tough few months for the daily fantasy sports industry in the USA amidst numerous ongoing and costly legal battles.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe signed the necessary legislation. The terms of the bill requires an initial payment of $50,000 for participating operators and each will undergo two independent audits each year.

Griffin Finan, Director of Public Affairs for DraftKings said: “Today, Virginia became the first state in the nation this year to put in place a thoughtful and appropriate regulatory framework to protect the rights of fantasy players. We thank Governor McAuliffe for his leadership and advocacy and are hopeful that other states across the country will follow Virginia’s lead. We will continue to work actively to replicate this success with dozens of legislatures and are excited to continue these efforts.”

The industry will have to wait to see if Virginia’s decision to recognised daily fantasy sports officially as a game of skill has a knock on effect on other states where the legal processes wind on.