The Delaware House of Representatives is set to vote on a bill to legalize and regulate daily fantasy sports, in the latest attempt to boost sagging gaming revenues amid flat results from the state’s three racinos.
Sponsored by Rep. Charles Potter, HB 249 moved through the House Gaming and Parimutuels Committee last week. Operators also pay a 15 percent tax on their net adjusted revenues on top of an annual $50,000 fee.
Potter said the bill is needed because “a lot of people” play on unregulated DFS sites in the state. Orrick, Herrington and Sutcliffe LLP, which represents DFS giants DraftKings and FanDuel, estimates that some 150,000 Delawareans play at the sites.
“That will bring income into the state,” Potter told Delaware’s News Journal. “If you imagine you have 150,000 people that are playing right now, that number’s going to grow when it’s legal, so if a person bets an average of $100 a month, you can do the math.”
Potter added that operators would have to comply with “some of the strictest consumer safeguards” in the nation, including prohibiting minors and misleading advertising from their sites.
