Excludes participation in any fantasy or simulation sports game or educational game or contest meeting certain conditions from the definition of "contest of chance".
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8588
SPONSOR: Murray (MS) TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to excluding participation in
any fantasy or simulation sports game or educational game or contest
meeting certain conditions from the definition of "contest of chance"
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
This bill would amend the penal law to classify certain fantasy or simu-
lation sports games or contests as games of Skill rather than games of
chance, thus creating exempting such contest from the penal law's safe-
guards against gambling offenses.
JUSTIFICATION:
While I do not believe this bill is necessary, we have introduced this
bill in the event that a court finds that daily fantasy sports is gambl-
ing. "Daily Fantasy Sports" allow participants to assemble a fantasy
team made up of selected athletes from real world sports teams. Partic-
ipants pay an entry fee for the contest and based upon the outcome, are
then eligible for the prize. This is a game of skill.
"Daily Fantasy Sports," such as those made popular by FanDuel and
DraftKings, having recently come under scrutiny in New York State. This
bill would create an exemption for such daily fantasy sports under the
penal law, classifying the game as a contest of skill rather than a
contest of chance. Daily fantasy sports are more properly equated to
stock or options trading on the U.S. markets than they are gambling
since the contests involve skill as the dominating element of success.
Such skill is based on, but not limited to, statistical analysis and
relevant knowledge of the real world sporting contest. Chance in such a
fantasy or simulation sports games or contests is limited to factors
such as injuries, weather, or the vicissitudes of sporting events in
general, but such chance is not a material element of the fantasy or
simulation sports game or contest. In short, the success of a fantasy
sports team depends on the participant's skill in selecting players for
his or her team.
Moreover, in daily fantasy sports, the prize guaranteed to be awarded is
known to the participants before the start of the fantasy sporting
event, and the prize does not depend on the number of entrants. Facili-
tators of daily fantasy sports, such as DraftKings and FanDuel, do not
compete for prizes and are indifferent to who wins, unlike the house
advantage in traditional contest of chance.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill
FISCAL IMPACT ON THE STATE:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8588
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
December 2, 2015
___________
Introduced by M. of A. MURRAY, GARBARINO -- read once and referred to
the Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to excluding participation in
any fantasy or simulation sports game or educational game or contest
meeting certain conditions from the definition of "contest of chance"
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 225.00 of the penal law is amended
2 to read as follows:
3 1. "Contest of chance" means any contest, game, gaming scheme or
4 gaming device in which the outcome depends in a material degree upon an
5 element of chance, notwithstanding that skill of the contestants may
6 also be a factor therein. "Contest of chance" shall not include partic-
7 ipation in any fantasy or simulation sports game or educational game or
8 contest in which (if the game or contest involves a team or teams) no
9 fantasy or simulation sports team is based on the current membership of
10 an actual team that is a member of an amateur or professional sports
11 organization (as those terms are defined in section thirty-seven hundred
12 one of title twenty-eight of the United States code) and that meets the
13 following conditions:
14 (a) All prizes and awards offered to winning participants are estab-
15 lished and made known to the participants in advance of the game or
16 contest and their value is not determined by the number of participants
17 or the amount of any fees paid by those participants.
18 (b) All winning outcomes reflect the relative knowledge and skill of
19 the participants and are determined predominantly by accumulated statis-
20 tical results of the performance of individuals (athletes in the case of
21 sports events) in multiple real-world sporting or other events whether
22 on a daily basis or for a predetermined amount of time.
23 (c) No winning outcome is based on the score, point-spread, or any
24 performance or performances of any single real-world team or any combi-
25 nation of such teams; or solely on any single performance of an individ-
26 ual athlete in any single real-world sporting or other event.
27 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13201-01-5
