Some in SC concerned about controversial big money Fantasy Football
Attorneys general in some other states are taking steps to rein in and even halt the Internet spread of high-stakes fantasy football companies whose online games allow players to pit virtual sports teams against other players’ teams for large sums of money.
Those officials in other states say the games, said to be a multibillion dollar Internet industry, are unregulated and constitute illegal gambling operations.
In South Carolina, state Education Lottery Commission executive director Paula Harper Bethea said Friday she has noticed fantasy football developments across the nation and wants to speak to state Attorney General Alan Wilson about them. Her office oversees the only state-sanctioned, regulated gambling operation in South Carolina.
Noting that attorneys general in other states are weighing on whether the online fantasy games are legal, Bethea said. “I’m sure our attorney general understands what’s going on around the country. I trust him implicitly to handle it well.” Wilson’s office, not hers, would be the state office to come up with a position on the legality of online fantasy sports gaming, she said.
Wilson has taken no position on the popular but controversial games.
“Our office has not received any complaints about this matter. We have no position on it, because we’re not involved with it at this time,” said Wilson spokesman J. Mark Powell.
Powell also said the office also has received no requests for an official attorney general’s opinion on the games’ legality in South Carolina. Wilson himself was unavailable for comment Thursday and Friday.
There are, basically, two kinds of fantasy football, each of which has attracted legions of players who choose real NFL players to fill out rosters of imaginary teams. The first kind is a relatively low-stakes informal game played on the Internet on free software among friends or work colleagues. That kind is not at issue.
The second kind are the high-stakes games that have come into being in the past five years. They are organized primarily by two national companies, FanDuel and DraftKings, which make millions of dollars each year off the games. The companies assert that anyone who plays the games needs skill and experience to win – therefore, they are not illegal games of chance.
The game sites don’t hide the fact they are about money. On its Internet site, FanDuel says, “Paying out nearly $2 billion in real cash prizes this year.” DraftKings says, “Sports for cash.”
In recent weeks, the New York State attorney general has ordered DraftKings and FanDuel to stop accepting bets from New York residents. The companies are fighting the proposed ban, and Nevada has ordered the two companies to apply for a gambling license.
Congressman Frank Pallone, D-NJ, has called for a U.S. House of Representatives committee hearing on the games.
People who work with gambling addictions worry about fantasy football spreading.
“I haven’t seen anyone yet come in with a big problem (because of fantasy football),” said longtime Columbia area therapist Frank Quinn, who deals with gambling and other addictions. “But I think it’s going to become a big problem. There have always been huge sports issues – this is just going to put it on steroids.”
Tom S., a recovering addicted gambler who runs the Gamblers Anonymous hotline for the Carolinas, told The State the sports addictions he is seeing are the usual ones. But he predicted fantasy football addictions will be a big problem “in three to five years. It will take time to take effect.”
This story was originally published November 13, 2015 at 7:14 PM.