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Some online sports books used to operate betting markets where you'd essentially buy options on teams, with the price of the option being determined by the dema
by ssharp 11y ago
Some online sports books used to operate betting markets where you'd essentially buy options on teams, with the price of the option being determined by the demand. The house would make money on the spread.
The fundamental difference between why that's illegal and betting on daily fantasy football is not, is simply that the anti-online gambling laws of the U.S. specifically allowed for betting on fantasy football and outlawed other types of gambling. When that law came about, I believe in 2007, daily fantasy football either didn't exist or was extremely niche. It really took a few years before big players like Draft Kings and Fan Duel got substantial traffic. When the law came about, there were a lot of small players who came and went.
- kasey_junk 11y agoIts actually more specialized than that. When the gambling law was written fantasy sports was given a specific exemption because traditional fantasy was so popular. The daily sites saw this exemption and developed games that push the envelope as closely as they possibly can. They've even added rules about not picking too many players from the same team as they are worried about that being perceived as a violation. The entire industry has been 1 jump ahead of legislation its whole short existence. In some ways they have been incredibly savvy, for instance they have financial backing from some of the biggest players in the US sports markets. That they allowed this idiotic behavior by the employees to go on for so long is boneheaded on an epic scale.