By Jim Siegel, The Columbus Dispatch
COLUMBUS – Ohioans drafting Cody Kessler to lead their fantasy teams may have their judgment questioned, but they won’t fear violating state law under a bill that passed the House on Wednesday.
A bill legalizing the popular fantasy sports industry in Ohio passed 82-15 and now heads to the state Senate. Oversight and licensing of the for-profit online industry would fall to the Ohio Casino Control Commission, but the games would specifically be exempt from state gambling laws.
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“This is not gambling. This is a skill-based game that requires an awful lot of research and prep work,” said Rep. Rob McColley, R-Napoleon, the bill sponsor (right). “I can speak from experience. There have been years when I haven’t done anything until the last second and I got slaughtered.”
But that skill-game designation has some scratching their heads.
“By exempting fantasy contests from the gambling law, it could also suggest that a fantasy contest would be considered gambling but for the exemption,” the nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission wrote in its analysis. “If fantasy contests are not gambling, it is not clear why they need to be exempt from the gambling law.”
In fantasy sports, a participant pays money and drafts real professional players, accumulating points based on how those players perform.
McColley stressed that the bill would not impact those who play fantasy sports games with friends and family through free online sites such as ESPN and Yahoo. It is aimed at companies such as Draft Kings and Ohio-based sites like WhatIfSports, and Fantasy Football Calculator, which take a cut of the money wagered.
Rep. Mike Duffey, R-Worthington, voted against the bill, calling it expanded gambling where, unlike casinos, racinos and the lottery, schools and governments don’t see a portion of the profits.
He noted the House just passed a budget prohibiting the use of credit cards to purchase lottery tickets, but this legalizes fantasy sports paid by credit card.
“We’re all over the map right now,” Duffey said. “How can we with a straight face saying we’re being philosophically consistent on gambling laws?”
A key difference in fantasy sports, McColley said, is that unlike a race track, where the odds are set in an effort to maximize losing wagers, those running fantasy sports sites take a cut of the wagers and don’t care who wins.