Idaho Rules Fantasy Sports “Illegal Gambling”

Fantasy 1DraftKings and FanDuel stopped offering paid daily fantasy sports contests in Idaho on Monday after an agreement with the state attorney general, the second such agreement between a state and the top sites in a week. The sites pulled out of Alabama following a similar agreement.

Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden issued a press release regarding the agreement with FanDuel and DraftKings, after “three months of negotiations.” The agreement took effect after May 1, per the AG’s office. Like many states before it, Wasden came to the conclusion that DFS runs afoul of the state’s gambling laws.

From the release:

“The concern I have is that the paid daily sports offerings provided by these companies constitute gambling under Idaho law,” Attorney General Wasden said. “I have a duty to enforce and uphold that law.  I commend the companies for negotiating in good faith and agreeing not to make these contests available in Idaho.”

Wasden began a review of the companies and their websites in January amid concerns regarding the legality of the daily fantasy sports contests offered by those companies.  The Idaho Constitution prohibits gambling except for the state lottery, pari-mutuel betting as well as bingo and raffle games.

“Idaho defines gambling, in part, as risking money or other thing of value for gain that is contingent in whole or part upon chance or the outcome of an event, including a sporting event,” Wasden said. “My concern is that the daily fantasy sports offerings my office reviewed require participants to risk money for a cash prize contingent upon individual athletes’ collective performances in various future sporting events. As I see it, this falls within Idaho’s definition of gambling.”

More at Legal Sports Report