Legalization of daily fantasy sports got halfway to the goal line in the 2015 Iowa Legislature. State Rep. Jake Highfill (R) hopes to get into the endzone in 2016 with a revised version of a bill that already cleared the state 
Senate. One of the things Highfill will have to reconcile with his bill is an existing Iowa law that caps social-gaming winnings at $200. That’s peanuts compared to some of the DFS payouts, most notoriously Ethan Haskell‘s controversial $350,000 gold strike. Public sentiment — to the tune of 63% of Iowans surveyed — backs Highfill.
As state Sen. Jeff Danielson (D) says, “We cannot scare ourselves to death about issues that come up. This is Iowa. We learn to adjust and protect our citizens, and we will do that in the online gaming environment as well.” Highfill’s bill will be retrofitted with an as-yet-unspecified regulatory framework, either putting DFS under the aegis of the attorney general’s office or the Racing & Gaming Commission. Although Iowa is bursting to the seams with casinos, the issue of permitting them to participate in DFS appears to not to have been address.
Meanwhile, DraftKings and FanDuel are picking themselves up off the turf in Illinois, where Attorney General Lisa Madigan decreed DFS to be an unlawful form of gambling. “Participants must pay an entry fee or buy-in amount in order to win a prize. Consequently, the act of playing daily fantasy sports contests in Illinois constitutes illegal gambling,” Madigan opined in a memo to lawmakers. “Persons whose wagers depend upon how particular, selected athletes perform in actual sporting events stand in no different stead than persons who wager on the outcome of any sporting event in which they are not participants.”
She left open the possibility of amending the state’s gambling laws to exempt DFS from the ban. Such a remedy has already been proposed in the state House by state Rep. Mike Zalewski (D). While state Rep. Elgie Sims (D) would like a more stringent version of Zalewski’s bill, but said, “Now that we know, according to the attorney general, that it’s illegal, we can make a serious attempt to address the issue.”
DraftKings attorney David Boies said the company would seek redress through the court system. Sure enough, a lawsuit was filed, pleading that Madigan “has set off a chain of events that if unchecked will unjustly destroy a legitimate industry.” While DraftKings filed in Cook County, FanDuel and ally Head2Head Sports took their lawsuit to Sangamon County, seat of the state capital.
In the meantime, DraftKings filled the ambiguous legal space with its trademark bombast, protesting “why the Attorney General would tell her 13.5 million constituents they can’t play fantasy sports anymore as they know it — and make no mistake, her opinion bans all forms of fantasy sports played for money — is beyond us … give back to the people of Illinois the games they love.” However, it also promised to “preserve the status quo.”
The company has a lot at stake, with Illinois residents representing 10% of the DFS market. If New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman prevails — and so does Madigan — there goes a quarter of the domestic DFS market. The plaintiffs asked the courts for an expedited judicial opinion, so you can be sure that the vise is tightening around the industry.
* While Glenn Straub is dithering over the future of Revel, the owners of Borgata are upgrading the property yet again. They’re going to replace the defunct Mixx nightclub and active mur.mur with a new Premier 
Nightclub, opening this spring. The design scheme is described as follows: “tiered booths focused on the deejay booth and artist stage. The main room will be flanked by two 35-foot-long bars with carved stone facades flanked by a sweeping staircase with hand-welded bronze, taking guests up to the horseshoe-shaped mezzanine. Upstairs, a 6-foot disco ball will help complement a 25-foot-wide chandelier.”
Explained Borgata Senior Vice President Joe Lupo, after 13 years in the marketplace it was time to revamp the nightlife product to compete with the best that New York City and Miami had to offer. He’s also bringing in “Iron Chef” Michael Symon, co-host of The Chew, to create an Italian restaurant in a long-vacant space left by Michael Mina. Between Symon and Premier, that’s two more nails pounded into Revel’s coffin. Straub had better get his act together, pronto.
