Daily Fantasy Sports
Encyclopedia
The concept of the daily fantasy sports game is relatively new. It takes the traditional fantasy sports model and compresses it into a daily, and sometimes weekly, game.
At a Federal level fantasy sports is defined and exempted by the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA). The bill specifically exempts fantasy sports games, educational games, or any online contest that "has an outcome that reflects the relative knowledge of the participants, or their skill at physical reaction or physical manipulation (but not chance), and, in the case of a fantasy or simulation sports game, has an outcome that is determined predominantly by accumulated statistical results of sporting events, including any non-participant's individual performances in such sporting events..."
However, all prizing must be determined in advance of the competition and can not be influenced by the fees or number of participants. To be compliant fantasy sports must follow the rule that: "prizes and awards offered to winning participants are established and made known to the participants in advance of the game or contest and their value is not determined by the number of participants or the amount of any fees paid by those participants."
The formal definition of fantasy sports within UIGEA stipulates that the outcome of a fantasy game must be dependent on multiple sports events but explicitly does not define the period over which the game must be played. The enactment of UIGEA gave the first legal definition of fantasy sports with which operators could then develop games around. This resulted in the emergence of daily fantasy games which first appeared in late 2007.
History
Daily fantasy sports is a new niche in the fantasy sports industry. Like traditional fantasy sports, players draft a team of real world athletes who then score fantasy points according to set scoring rules. However instead of being stuck with the same team through a whole season, daily fantasy sports contests last just one day (or in the case of NFL or NASCAR, one weekend). Daily fantasy sports is quicker and more numbers-driven. Daily fantasy sports websites do not compete for the same players as traditional sports games, but instead market themselves as complimenting traditional fantasy sports.Legality
The legality of daily fantasy sports games is the same as that of season long fantasy sports. In most US states fantasy sports (including daily fantasy sports) is generally considered a game of skill and therefore not considered gambling. However, some states, such as Arizona, Maryland, Montana, Louisiana, Iowa and Vermont, either use a more restrictive test of whether a game is one of skill or have specific laws outlawing paid fantasy sports.At a Federal level fantasy sports is defined and exempted by the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 (UIGEA). The bill specifically exempts fantasy sports games, educational games, or any online contest that "has an outcome that reflects the relative knowledge of the participants, or their skill at physical reaction or physical manipulation (but not chance), and, in the case of a fantasy or simulation sports game, has an outcome that is determined predominantly by accumulated statistical results of sporting events, including any non-participant's individual performances in such sporting events..."
However, all prizing must be determined in advance of the competition and can not be influenced by the fees or number of participants. To be compliant fantasy sports must follow the rule that: "prizes and awards offered to winning participants are established and made known to the participants in advance of the game or contest and their value is not determined by the number of participants or the amount of any fees paid by those participants."
The formal definition of fantasy sports within UIGEA stipulates that the outcome of a fantasy game must be dependent on multiple sports events but explicitly does not define the period over which the game must be played. The enactment of UIGEA gave the first legal definition of fantasy sports with which operators could then develop games around. This resulted in the emergence of daily fantasy games which first appeared in late 2007.
Daily Fantasy Players Association
Recently a group of players have merged together to have one voice and decided to be represented by the Daily Fantasy Players Association or (DFPA). The DFPA has aimed to bring players together and help improve the rights for the players in regards to the daily fantasy sports industry.List of Daily Fantasy Sports Sites
There are a number of websites that offer daily fantasy sports contests:- DraftDay
- Fantazzle
- FanSkills
- SnapDraft
- 365FantasySports
- FantasySportsDay
- FanDuel
- DraftStreet
- AmpedFantasy
- FantasyFactor
- FantasySportsLive
- VegasFantasyBook
- DrafterParty
- Fantasy Sports Vegas