Indiana has become the latest state in the US to consider legalising certain forms of sports betting activities.
State Representative Alan Morrison has introduced two separate bills, one of which will cover sports betting while the other includes measures that will regulate fantasy sports content in the state.
House Bill 1073 would enable casinos, racinos and off-track betting locations in Indiana to offer sports betting.
In order for this bill to come into law, the Indiana Gaming Commission would be required to determine that such betting was allowed under federal law.
As reported by iGaming business, this factor has become an issue in the ongoing effort to legalise some forms of sports betting in the state of New Jersey.
House Bill 1074, the second piece of legislation put forward by Morrison, would allow racetrack casinos to offer players in Indiana access to fantasy sports games.
The bill would also allow for daily fantasy sport contests.
“Gaming is something that this state has become extremely reliant upon, that revenue,” Morrison said, according to the Casino.org website.
“As it’s been trending down, it’s incumbent upon us to figure out how to fix it or improve on what we have.”
Meanwhile, the northern US state of Montana is also reported to be considering legalising certain forms of daily fantasy sports.
Montana State Representative Forrest Mandeville has put forward a bill that would clarify the state’s gaming laws in order allow its residents to play some of these games.
The state is one of only few in the US currently excluded from fantasy sports activities as regulators use a definition of gambling that includes games with any element of chance, even if luck does not play a major part in this.
The new bill excludes fantasy sports games from the gambling definition, but only features an exception for games with total fees of under $100.
This feature would exclude Montana players from high-stakes daily fantasy games, but would allow them to access the majority of major fantasy sports websites.
source : www.igamingbusiness.com
