INDIANAPOLIS — Despite being banned in some states and under tight scrutiny in others, daily fantasy sports sites are here to stay in Indiana after Gov. Mike Pence signed a bill regulating the industry.
Daily fantasy sports sites that charge users money to play, and give out cash prizes to the winners, will now have to register with the Indiana Secretary of State and follow some tighter regulations than they have been operating under in the past few years.
For example, players will have to confirm they are at least 18-years-old before playing and sites will have to make clear, before games start, how many people are playing and how the money will be doled out at the end of the competition.
Fantasy games involving college athletics will not be allowed.
The bill’s author, Sen. Jon Ford, R-Terre Haute, said he penned the legislation to make Hoosiers feel more secure when playing online. In the past, there have been very few regulations on the games one million Hoosiers reportedly take part in.
“This is going to allow people that play fantasy sports to know they’re operating on a level playing field,” Ford said.
Ford said he will continue to look at the industry and make tweaks as necessary going forward. There is also the possibility of a study committee looking at the issue of taxation on the daily fantasy sites and the winners.
In the House Public Policy Committee, lawmakers talked about adding some language to the bill similar to how lottery and gambling winners are taxed. Some of those ideas, including withholding winnings for people delinquent on child support payments, could be discussed this summer.
The sites themselves, aside from paying a $50,000 registration fee, are not subject to pay taxes like casinos in Indiana or other similar gaming industries. That could be another topic taken up by a summer committee.
The bill goes into effect July 1, meaning the sites will be registered and running in plenty of time for the start of fantasy football, the most popular fantasy sport, in September.