Fantasy Sports Game Providers Win Victory in New Jersey Court
October 17th, 2007 | by aaron |For those of you who are unaware of the legalities behind playing fantasy football for money I thought I’d offer this small, but extremely important information. Without the involvement from millions of fantasy participants the NFL, MLB, and the NBA, would be nowhere near where they are today.
We would all expect companies such as ESPN, CBS Sportsline and the Sporting News would win such a suit and as sports enthusiasts and fantasy owners in general we all benefit from this decision. In my opinion, the decision is a no-brainer and what it has offered to companies such as DraftMix.com and others is a wide variety of playing options.
Lawsuit Vs. ESPN, CBS Sportsline, and the Sporting News Dismissed
In the U.S. District Court of New Jersey last Friday June 22, Judge Dennis Cavanaugh dismissed a lawsuit filed by a Charles E. Humphrey, Jr. against ESPN, CBSSportsline, The Sporting News and other fantasy sports game providers. Humphrey claimed in his suit that fantasy sports are form of gambling because the fantasy sports providers offer pay for play online fantasy sports games. The suit was filed on June 20, 2006, and Humphrey sought damages from the fantasy sports gamers citing several states’ “qui tam” laws. Even though Charles E. Humphrey, Jr. has never played any of the fantasy sports games himself.
“This is a huge day for the fantasy sports industry” said Bill Heberer of Manatt, Phelps and Phillips LLC, which represented CBSSportsline and The Sporting News. Judge Cavanaugh cited the recently passed Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, stating “that law confirms that fantasy sports leagues such as those operated by the defendants, do not constitute gambling as a matter of law”. Cavanaugh thus provided future guidance of the legality of the fantasy sports industry within the decision.
This decision proves one thing for sure. That is that even in this world gone mad, that sometimes Judges still make decisions that actually make sense. The most head-scratching aspect of this case is that Humphrey didn’t even try to hide the fact that he has never played any fantasy sport. In the strictest sense of the word, I suppose one could call fantasy sports “gambling”. In many leagues, including one I participate in, there is an entry fee with prizes for division winners, the highest weekly score, the most total points scored for the regular season, and finally the most points However, as anyone knows who has played fantasy sports, fantasy football (the most popular fantasy sport by far) in particular, requires knowledge of the most productive players, injuries, etc. Anyone can get lucky with one or two players carrying them to victory once in awhile, but to score well for an entire season is a skill,. Thus, fantasy sports are games of skill, not luck. The winners names are not drawn out of a hat, or by some kind of draw like the lottery.
I hail this decision by the court and hope that the decision serves as a deterrent for the filing of such frivolous lawsuits in the future. In an article on fantasy football written last fall, I discussed the phenomon of fantasy football. Please give it a read (shameless plug). The article entitled Fantasy Football: Oxygenic or Oxymoron discusses the popularity of fantasy football and the effect it has in the workplace. It was my very first article on AC, so now on article #100, it looks like we’ve come full circle. Fantasy football will be heating up soon, with league drafts and so on, so do your homework before your league draft.
For those of you who need fantasy football advice, give www.fantasyfootballstar a try. The site is not up yet, but will be soon. I am a feature writer for the site, by the way, but don’t let that stop you. Good luck, I mean, fortune in your league this fall.
