Yes, we have! Our games are in compliance with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006.
Notice that our games have static entry fees, static numbers of participants, and static rewards. The game for each state is based on the accumulated statistics from each precinct of the state.
For those who are curious, this is the exception of the law under which we fall:
(ix) participation in any fantasy or simulation sports game or educational game or contest in which (if the game or contest involves a team or teams) no fantasy or simulation sports team is based on the current membership of an actual team that is a member of an amateur or professional sports organiza- tion (as those terms are defined in section 3701 of title 28) and that meets the following conditions:
(I) All prizes and awards offered to winning participants are established and made known to the participants in advance of the game or contest and their value is not determined by the number of participants or the amount of any fees paid by those participants.
(II) All winning outcomes reflect the relative knowledge and skill of the participants and are determined predominantly by accumulated statis- tical results of the performance of individuals (ath- letes in the case of sports events) in multiple real- world sporting or other events.
(III) No winning outcome is based—
‘‘(aa) on the score, point-spread, or any performance or performances of any single real-world team or any combination of such
teams; or
‘‘(bb) solely on any single performance of
an individual athlete in any single real-world
sporting or other event.
Exemption from that particular law doesn't necessarily protect you from other anti-gaming statutes, especially at the state level, which is exactly what is playing out right now in this space.
Haha I hope it doesn't come to that. In the excerpt above, it states "participation in any fantasy or simulation sports game or educational game or contest". There are also other non-sports related fantasy websites such as Celebrity Fantasy Draft which have won awards from the Fantasy Sports Trade Association. We, and our lawyer, did not think that this violated the law.
As mentioned in other comments, we do not allow players to "cash out" if they are from states in which fantasy is banned. This is similar to what DraftKings and FanDuel do.
6 comments
[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 30.6 ms ] threadHave you run that by a lawyer?
Notice that our games have static entry fees, static numbers of participants, and static rewards. The game for each state is based on the accumulated statistics from each precinct of the state.
For those who are curious, this is the exception of the law under which we fall:
(ix) participation in any fantasy or simulation sports game or educational game or contest in which (if the game or contest involves a team or teams) no fantasy or simulation sports team is based on the current membership of an actual team that is a member of an amateur or professional sports organiza- tion (as those terms are defined in section 3701 of title 28) and that meets the following conditions:
(I) All prizes and awards offered to winning participants are established and made known to the participants in advance of the game or contest and their value is not determined by the number of participants or the amount of any fees paid by those participants.
(II) All winning outcomes reflect the relative knowledge and skill of the participants and are determined predominantly by accumulated statis- tical results of the performance of individuals (ath- letes in the case of sports events) in multiple real- world sporting or other events.
(III) No winning outcome is based—
‘‘(aa) on the score, point-spread, or any performance or performances of any single real-world team or any combination of such teams; or ‘‘(bb) solely on any single performance of an individual athlete in any single real-world sporting or other event.
(https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-120/pdf/STATUTE-120-Pg...)
I really appreciate this sort of feedback! Complying with the law is our foremost priority.
Prediction market have been declared illegal in the US.
UIGEA carve out is specifically restricted to sports and scoring related simulation (guess who lobbied for it).
This is regardless of various state-specific laws, as well as the current daily-league legal battle.
Any futures trading is also regulated by the CFTC
As mentioned in other comments, we do not allow players to "cash out" if they are from states in which fantasy is banned. This is similar to what DraftKings and FanDuel do.
Does that address your concern?