Missouri and Colorado Become The Latest States To Legalize DFS

June 15, 2016
Missouri and Colorado Become The Latest States To Legalize DFS June 15, 2016 Fantasy Sport

Missouri and Colorado Legalise DFSMissouri and Colorado recently announced that they have now passed bills legalizing the Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS) industry within their state borders making them the fifth and sixth state to do so this year.

Governors of both states signed bills to law late last week. Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon was one of the few governors who had taken an active interest in the DFS industry. The bill HB 1941 was introduced late last year and was cleared in the legislative houses in May. The law will come into effect on August 28.

In a statement, Gov. Nixon said

When a new frontier of online betting is available at the touch of a screen, we have a responsibility to protect consumers and young people. I appreciate the General Assembly for answering my call to bring forward common-sense consumer protection to make sure fantasy sports gaming in Missouri is operated responsibly and with accountability

Under the terms of the Missouri Fantasy Sports Consumer Protection Act , DFS will come under the purview of the Missouri Gaming Commission. The DFS sites would need to pay an annual licensing fee of $10,000 or 10 percent of net revenue in the state whichever was lower. Additionally a tax rate of 11.5 percent has been imposed. Fee proceeds will go towards education funds.

The act also requires a third party audit annually and requires the segregation of player funds. DFS contests based on amateur contests including college sports are banned and players need to be 18 years of age to participate.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper had signed the state’s DFS bill into law earlier on the same day as Missouri. The state’s fantasy sports regulation bill H 1404 had been passed by the legislative houses in early May.

According to the law, the Division of Professions and Occupations (DPO) within the state’s Department of Regulatory Agencies will handle the regulation of the industry. The DPO has been given the mandate to set the licensing and renewal fees instead of it being stipulated in the law itself. Only operators having over 7,500 users need to obtain a license and undergo an annual audit. Amateur sporting events are prohibited for DFS contents and users need to be over 18 years of age to play.

A number of consumer protection provisions are provided in the law including segregation of funds, measures allowing players to set limitations on themselves and protection of consumer data. The law comes into effect on August 10.

These two states join other four states that have so far legalized DFS so far which are Indiana, Virginia, Tennessee and Mississippi.

Fantasy Sport

Fantasy Sport Administrator


Related Articles

DraftKings Rekindle Partnership With WPT For Euro Championship

The World Poker Tour (WPT) recently confirmed that they have partnered once again with DraftKings Inc. for the upcoming Season

DraftKings Premier League Fantasy Picks: March 5th 2016

The very best EPL daily fantasy sport picks for the tournaments at DraftKings on March 5th 2016 After a set

DraftKings Premier League Fantasy Picks: March 13/14th 2016

Following from our EPL soccer picks on yesterday’s games, we will be looking for more value picks in the remaining