Washington State Rep Says Daily Fantasy Sports Is Just As Bad As El Chapo
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A bill that would make felons out of daily fantasy operators and advertisers in Washington state will get a public hearing Monday.
Introduced by Christopher Hurst and David Sawyer, the bill specifically rules fantasy sports games to be games of chance rather than skill, and then pushes that sentiment to the boundaries of credulity in the following passage:
The legislature further finds that, in fantasy sports games, the relative success of a participant is determined almost entirely by the element of chance rather than the element of skill.
Among its follies, the bill cites humorist/television host John Oliver as a “British journalist.”
It seeks to make operating or advertising a fantasy sports game a Class C felony in the state, punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
Though clearly aimed at operators of the daily variant, it would also specifically prohibit fantasy contests “of any duration” in which the participants put up something of value.
Hurst, though, told KIRO radio, “about the only people it’s going to apply to are FanDuel and DraftKings,” which he referred to as “a significant criminal element.”
“(Fantasy sports) is a natural extension of a great American pastime,” Hurst said. “What we have here are a couple of companies that are stealing money from the people who play, running horribly misleading and untrue advertising, and actually taking bets in the state, which is a felony every time they do it.”
“This is no different than El Chapo down in Mexico advertising heroin or methamphetamine on our airways a thousand times a day to get kids to try it.”
He went on to clarify that the law only targets for-profit business that take a handle from fantasy sports entry fees.
“This is one of the most horrifically run criminal enterprises parading as a legitimate business that I’ve ever seen,” Hurst said.
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THANK YOU CHRISTOPHER HURST! FINALLY someone had the balls to say it. Obviously it was one of our esteemed elected officials, that’s why we put them in office – to say the things everyone else is scared to say.
Bottom line is Daily Fantasy Sports is no different than El Chapo. My Millionaire Maker lineup last week was the exact same thing as shooting heroin directly into my veins while freebasing methamphetamines. Chris Hurst knows it and that’s why he’s going after the most dangerous criminal enterprise in operation today – not the drug dealers, not the gang members, not the white collar criminals manipulating the economy, but the guys who are letting adults across America deposit their own money under their own free will to enter a $2 buy in tournament. Doing research and analytics to build a roster of assets you believe to have a good chance of performing well and giving you a return on your investment. If that sounds like the stock market at all, no, you’re wrong, it’s a felony and it’s worse than every drug in the world.
There’s the head of the Sinaloa Cartel, the biggest drug lord of all time, exporting over 500 tons of cocaine to the US in addition to methamphetamine, marijuana, ecstasy, and heroin, who claims to have murdered 2-3,000 people, who is responsible for things like This (NSFW), who used a child as a human shield to escape from police…then there’s the website that let me turn 20 bucks into 100 last night when Jimmy Butler went off for 53 points. Which is worse? Argument goes both ways.