It is difficult to watch a sporting
event nowadays without seeing an advertisement for companies like DraftKings or
Fan Duel. These companies are online,
daily sports gambling sites. With the
new technology that our world has created, these sites have stirred up some
controversy among people that are pro- and anti-gambling. In many states across the country, online
gambling is considered illegal and sometimes, even gambling is illegal. The only problem is that with new technology
there are devices called Proxies, in which an individual can be in one state
but bounce their electrical symbol off of another state to fool government into
thinking they are actually using a different area of internet then they
are. Many states have been working to
ban this type of gambling, especially New York, where the state won a court
case ruling the online daily fantasy types a form of gambling and therefore,
illegal. This court case has been a huge
deal for many people that participate in this fantasy activity. Prior to this court case, many people allowed
these sites to remain legal because they were seen as “games of skill” instead
of “games of chance.” Therefore, many
states and jurisdictions did not believe these forms of fantasy to be a form of
gambling and allowed for them to continue.
The
reason for the huge blowup of online, daily fantasy is the laziness of our
society. First of all, fantasy teams
have been a part of sports for a very long time, normally taking place over an
entire season. Now, due to the
modernization of society there has been a push towards quicker games in order
to win more money, faster. This
development comes along with the developments in shipping, online shopping, and
communication. The problem with the new
banning of this online gambling seems like our country is trying to stick with
the old. The fantasy world has been
around for a long time and it has never been threatened as gambling. The only difference between normal fantasy
and online fantasy, is the amount of time each takes. Our government is saying just because one is
6 weeks longer, then it is not considered gambling. Legislation is trying to ban the idea of
quicker fantasy and it looks as though they will succeed.
Fan Duel Customer Growth |
Another
large problem with trying to ban this type of sports fantasy is the hardship of
trying to make the ban across the country.
With today’s technology, people can be in Pennsylvania, but confuse
somebody tracking them to believe that they are in another state or country
completely. They use proxies to connect
to internet and shoot their signal to another state or country. Therefore, the trackers believe that they
could be in a state with which this type of gambling is completely legal. I believe if legislators want to ban this
form of gambling, they must ban it nationwide and make it illegal
altogether. This new beast of gambling
is very controversial and will cause much controversy in the future.
Online
daily fantasy must first be labeled as gambling before it may be banned by governing
bodies. Once they are banned, the
government must work to monitor and cover up these illegal activities that take
place on the web. New York took the
first step to getting rid of this type of gambling and it looks as if many
other states will follow closely behind the actions of banning it. This controversial topic will continue to
make national news as it is a huge company and has a lot of monetary
value. The blowup of this company has
been stellar and if these companies do get banned, online gambling will take a
huge hit.
Citations:
"Are Daily Fantasy
Sports Gambling?" US News. U.S.News & World Report, n.d. Web. 13 Jan.
2016.
Hiltzik, Michael.
"Are Daily Fantasy Sports Contests Gambling or Games of Skill?" Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times, n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2016.
Brown, Maury. "The
Death Of Daily Fantasy Sports." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 12 Dec. 2015. Web. 13 Jan. 2016.