Is Fantasy Sports Gambling? NBA, MLB Fantasy Leagues Is Big Business
This is one of those arguments about where the line gets drawn. The new way to play fantasy sports is daily fantasy, where a player drafts a fantasy team for one day and then wins prizes or money based on the performance of their roster. It is a lot more popular that season long fantasy leagues where injuries often hinder users. Fantasy sports is popular and a lot of people play them and many of them win money playing.
Does that make it gambling?
The world we live is much different than the one of the 1980ss when Major League Baseball banned Pete Rose for life for betting on the game. The climate has shifted, and gambling is more a part of normal society now, or at least more accepted.
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In the U.S. virtually every person lives within a few hours of a casino, and we even have a MLB owner whose wife owns a casino (Marion Illitch, wife of Detroit Tigers and Detroit Red Wings owner Mike Illitch, owns the Motor City Casino of Detroit).
So it should surprise no one that the big sports leagues are looking to cash in on the fantasy market. Since they cannot own casinos outright, fantasy sports is the premiere way to take advantage of the action. Major League Baseball bought a stake in Draft Kings and the NBA has partnered with Fan Duel.
The leagues should look to increase their revenues where they can. However, owning what is essentially a gambling service while keeping Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson out of the sport (and Hall of Fame) is a rather tough position to defend.
