Amid an effort by state gambling regulators to rein in companies accused of operating potentially illegal online betting games, a Senate Republican has filed proposals that would set up a regulatory framework for fantasy sports.
A measure (SB 1566) proposed by Sen. Travis Hutson, R-St. Augustine would authorize the Florida Gaming Control Commission to oversee fantasy sports businesses and require the businesses to be licensed.
Businesses would have to pay an initial application fee of up to $1 million and annual license-renewal fees up to $250,000.
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Another bill (SB 1568) would add a definition of fantasy sports to state law, which currently does not address fantasy sports.
Hutson’s proposal would define fantasy-sports contests as “a fantasy or simulation sports game or contest offered by a contest operator or a noncommercial contest operator in which a contest participant manages a fantasy or simulation sports team composed of athletes from a professional sports organization” that meets certain criteria.
The bill also would “prohibit the contest operator from being a contest participant” in a game the operator offers.
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The move to regulate fantasy sports contests has come as the Seminole Tribe of Florida ramps up its sports-betting operations throughout the state and amid an effort by regulators to stop fantasy sports operators from offering games potentially violating state law.
Hutson’s bills were filed Friday, four days before Tuesday’s start of the 2024 legislative session.
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