Mississippi makes daily fantasy sports u-turn after new bill is passed

move that will surprise many, Mississippi legislators have turned their backs on previous opinion that existing state law prohibited daily fantasy sports by passing a new Senate Bill.

The Mississippi Senate had proposed a bill to regulate DFS that was dismantles by the House, which in the process created a completely different piece of legislation authorising a state lottery. However, part of that bill included the creation of a conference committee, made up of members of both the Senate and the House, to examine the question of DFS legislation further.

DFS operators will be allowed back into the market until July 2017, at which point a Fantasy Contest Task Force will, “undertake a comprehensive review of the offering of fantasy contests with a fee within this state and to recommend the proper oversight and regulation of the offering of fantasy contests with a fee”.

DFS operators, including DraftKings and FanDuel had pulled out of the state after AG Jim Hood issued an opinion that daily fantasy sports broke existing state law prohibiting gambling. However, inking specific DFS regulation into law would supersede Hood’s comments.

The Mississippi legislation follows hot on the heels of Tennessee, where the Senate passed DFS Bill 27-2 to Governor Bill Haslam to sign after the bill passed in the House earlier this week. When inked into law, the bill will make Tennessee the third state to officially legalise daily fantasy sports in the USA.