Alabama Legalizes Daily Fantasy Sports; DraftKings, FanDuel Set To Return
Dustin Gouker Updated on Jun 4, 2019
Daily fantasy sports is coming back to Alabama.
More than three years after DFS was declared to be illegal gambling by the state’s attorney general, companies like DraftKings and FanDuel are getting ready to re-enter the market.
Alabama and daily fantasy
Gov. Kay Ivey signed the bill into law, as first reported by Bloomberg Tax. That came after the legislature passed the bill in May. Bills had failed to reach the finish line in each of the past three years.
But this year was different, as bills passed both chambers by overwhelming margins.
DFS operators stopped taking customers in the state in 2016 after the attorney general opinion, and have not returned since.
Neither DraftKings nor FanDuel could offer a timeline for a return to Alabama. A FanDuel spokesperson offered this statement, however:
It’s the second state that has recently reversed course on fantasy sports. Last month, Iowa enacted a sports betting bill that also legalized DFS. All daily fantasy sports companies have stayed out of Iowa because of how existing laws were written, not because of any action taken against DFS.
Once both those states go live — along with most of Louisiana — the number of states that do not have DFS will be reduced to just six:
Interestingly, both DraftKings and FanDuel have both added sports gambling to their portfolio of offerings in the past year.
Several states still have negative opinions regarding paid-entry fantasy sports — including Texas, Illinois and Florida — with no new DFS law to make them entirely moot. DraftKings, FanDuel and most other operators still serve all three states.
Dustin Gouker Updated on Jun 4, 2019
Daily fantasy sports is coming back to Alabama.
More than three years after DFS was declared to be illegal gambling by the state’s attorney general, companies like DraftKings and FanDuel are getting ready to re-enter the market.
Alabama and daily fantasy
Gov. Kay Ivey signed the bill into law, as first reported by Bloomberg Tax. That came after the legislature passed the bill in May. Bills had failed to reach the finish line in each of the past three years.
But this year was different, as bills passed both chambers by overwhelming margins.
DFS operators stopped taking customers in the state in 2016 after the attorney general opinion, and have not returned since.
Neither DraftKings nor FanDuel could offer a timeline for a return to Alabama. A FanDuel spokesperson offered this statement, however:
We are excited to bring FanDuel Daily Fantasy Sports to the great people of Alabama. We would like to thank Rep. Kyle South, who fought tirelessly to bring fantasy sports back to Alabama. We also are grateful for the support from Speaker McCutcheon, Sen. Del Marsh, and Sen. Tom Whatley. We are working hard to bring our fantasy sports products to Alabama residents and we will have more details very soon.
More states with DFS
It’s the second state that has recently reversed course on fantasy sports. Last month, Iowa enacted a sports betting bill that also legalized DFS. All daily fantasy sports companies have stayed out of Iowa because of how existing laws were written, not because of any action taken against DFS.
Once both those states go live — along with most of Louisiana — the number of states that do not have DFS will be reduced to just six:
- Arizona
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Montana
- Nevada
- Washington
Interestingly, both DraftKings and FanDuel have both added sports gambling to their portfolio of offerings in the past year.
Several states still have negative opinions regarding paid-entry fantasy sports — including Texas, Illinois and Florida — with no new DFS law to make them entirely moot. DraftKings, FanDuel and most other operators still serve all three states.
