Senate President is in Favor of Regulating and Taxing Fantasy Sports

Senate President Stanley Rosenberg confessed that he was naive with regards to Fantasy Sports Betting and that he now views the activity as being similar to horse racing betting, and now believes that the state should be entitled to a share. Mr. Rosenberg, when speaking to reporters in his office has added his voice to the growing chorus That government needs to become involved with the online Fantasy Sports betting sites, such as, Draft Kings and FanDuel, who advertise to the many sports fans of the possibility of being able to win millions of dollars on a daily basis in competitions.

He continued that it was clearly an area that should be regulated and taxed. He said that he sees it more like horse racing because people who bet are evaluating the potential performance and wagers are placed on it, he said that the states regulate and tax horse racing as well as dog racing, he did not see much difference between the two types of wagering. Speaker of the House, Robert DeLeo, said that Massachusetts should be getting "its fair share" of this revenue pie from a growing business model.

Although DraftKings is located in Massachusetts, Mr. Rosenberg agreed that player are able to go online armed with a credit card at any place in the world and play, and that this could make the regulation and taxing of the business difficult. He stated that the going to need help from the technical people to figure things out.

Maura Healey, the Attorney General said last week that after they had reviewed the business model of Fantasy Sports gaming websites, the did not find anything in Federal or Massachusetts law that prohibits the activity, however, she indicated that she wanted to have further discussions with executives about consumer protections.

Gov. Charlie Baker said that they got down to thinking how his administration would be able to could regulate the two Fantasy Sports operatives he wanted to hear more from Ms. Healey. He said that he was truly interested in what will be said regarding football and Fantasy Sports, and although she said it was legal, she was also concerned regarding consumer protection other matters, and he would like to see how her investigations pan out before he makes any decisions of offers.

The Treasurer, Deborah Goldberg, has floated an idea of the Lottery to run its own Fantasy Sport site, and Mr. Rosenberg has said that Legislature, deferred to the treasurer as well as the Gaming Commission to explore every possibility and potential impacts.

He continued that there is a need to get some recommendations from the people who know more about it, and that he is fairly clear in his mind now that he understand what they do add therefore its needed to get some form of regulation and taxation into the picture.