Why is handicapping and betting football, gambling, but playing online fantasy football, not gambling?

The NFL has been very anti-gambling in the past including fighting legalized sports betting in Atlantic City, parlay cards in Oregon and not letting NFL teams play in Vegas, if Vegas were to ever build a stadium.

They now seem to embrace the two online fantasy football sites that have non-stop advertising and infomercials.

What is the real difference between the two? One could argue that one takes skill and the other is strictly luck, but that would be untrue. A good handicapper should be able to win more than 53% of the time and to make a profit. A recreation player will probably lose or get lucky. The same goes for fantasy football. A handicapper and researcher can probably win, but a recreational play will likely lose or will have to get lucky.

Truth be told, if it wasn't for the office pools, bookies, etc. football wouldn't be nearly as popular as it is today.

Nothing is illegal till the government says it is (because they can't tax it).

Ray

The NFL as well as ESPN get money from the fantasy sites. Follow the money

Roulette Man is not alone.

On Thursday 22 October Nevada regulators ordered the sites [DraftKings and FanDuel] out of the state unless they get a gambling license.

DraftKings and others in the fantasy sports industry, including competitor FanDuel, have insisted their sites aren't gambling and are legal under a 2006 Federal Law that exempted fantasy sports from an online gambling prohibition.

__A California Assemblyman introduced a bill to legalize fantasy sports there and said Nevada's decision provided more evidence of the need for oversight.
__A Pennsylvania lawmaker proposed a ban on daily fantasy sports unless they are operated by the 12 casinos in the state.
__Illinois regulators think daily fantasy sports is illegal under a state law prohibiting Internet Gambling, but they plan to ask their state attorney general for a legal opinion next week.
__In Ohio, the issue is for State lawmakers to decide, since the contests don't fit neatly into state's definition of casino games.
__The Delaware Finance Secretary Tom Cook said state officials are reviewing Nevada's actions evaluating whether any of its conclusions would apply in Delaware.
__Michigan has been reviewing if the state's criminal gambling laws apply to daily fantasy sports before Nevada's decision.
__Mississippi's Gambling Commission is also looking into the issue.

Ref: The Christian Science Monitor

DonDiego supposes it is gambling and would recommend minimal regulation to insure the game is run honestly. Beyond that just let folks do what they'd like.

They paid off the right people!

States realize that more taxes can be extracted from such operations, therefore all states will soon recognize fantasy football as gambling.

Just so.

******quote***
According to ESPN the Magazine, "The FBI estimates that $2.6 billion was wagered illegally in 2013 on March Madness [the NCAA basketball tournament] alone; pro gamblers would bet it's 10 times that."
The law will accommodate all sorts of sports gambling not when government becomes a friend of liberty by allowing victimless pleasures, but when government recognizes in fantasy sports something it loves more than liberty: something to regulate and tax.
***endquote***

Ref: George Will

"On Thursday [29 October], the Nevada Gaming Control Board ruled that all unlicensed daily fantasy sports companies must cease and desist in the state.
The decision out of Nevada could be a tipping point in the question over whether these companies [DraftKings and FanDuel — which pay out millions of dollars to users who select a roster of athletes—constitute gambling. Nevada’s decision means that Nevada, for one, does believe it is gambling, and not a 'game of skill,' the definition that allows DraftKings and FanDuel to operate in 45 states (now 44)."

Ref: Fortune