Fantasy sports have recently gained a lot more participants because they are now offered online, which makes them much more accessible. The new fan base has drawn a lot of attention to the game, both positive and negative, causing many more people to become interested and start playing too. When asked why fantasy sports have recently exploded, Fox Sports 1 NFL Insider Peter Schrager responded "[i]t's this new niche called daily fantasy sports ...  and you can bet day to day" (Fox 0:40). The legality of the games became a huge controversy when a lot more people began to have the potential to be affected by playing. Some people would consider these sites illegal gambling because they are said to be wagering money and that they are based completely off of chance. There are many factors that people are debating over to determine if fantasy sports should be considered gambling or if they are truly a game based off of the users skill and knowledge of the game. 

Fantasy sports allow for an individual fan to become the team manager for the team that they draft. Each participant can either spend a certain amount of money on their team or they have to take part in an online draft that involves their entire league. Once the team is assembled, the owner must keep track of their team and make trades, change the starters, and make any other adjustments that they see fit. Davis explains that "[b]y developing a wealth of sports knowledge, individuals attempt to outsmart opponents by drafting players that will create the best statistics during the season, helping them to create the most competitive team possible to win the league" (Davis 247). The winner of the league is determined by whose players racked up the most points during the predetermined time that the league's players would be competing. 

The law's language that could potentially make fantasy sports considered illegal gambling is the biggest controversy surrounding the argument. "Gambling opponents generally present three arguments against legalized gambling: increased crime rates, economic loss, and erosion of morality" (Davidson 221). One side of the argument thinks that the laws are talking about any game that has any chance at all involved and another side thinks that the game's outcome would have to be determined mostly off of luck. The group of people who think that any game involving chance is illegal make the argument that since there is a small amount of chance involved with fantasy sports, it should be considered gambling. They argue that no one could possibly know exactly how a player is going to perform even if they know every single statistic about the game and player. The player could get injured during the game, get sick the night before, have personal issues that would affect his play, or any other circumstance that would alter him from playing as his usual self. The trail blazers blog wrote that "[t]he attorney general said then that the 'argument that skill so predominates that chance is minimal is nonetheless an admission that chance is an element and partial chance is involved'" (Blanchard). This small amount of chance is said to affect the outcome of the tournaments enough that the entire game should have to be labeled as gambling. 

The opposing group agrees that there is some chance involved with the outcome of fantasy sports but it is typically decided by the person's skill who picked the team. "Under the laws of many states, season-long and even multi-week online fantasy sports tournaments are not considered 'gambling.'  The regulatory trend in these states is to categorize fantasy sports as games of skill based on the sports knowledge of each league participant" (KMT). This is because there is always a chance for something uncommon to happen to a player on their team but most of the time they play how they are expected to at that time of the year against the team they play that week. It is almost impossible to determine if something will happen in a player's life that could affect the way they play the game or if they will even play at all. The majority of these conditions are argued to be if the player will even start and how one is supposed to know which players will perform better than others on any given week. These can be determined through research on the internet and any other medium that can be acquired. A player will most likely start in the game if they have been starting in the previous games. If they are not, then the team will usually make this fact known by a press release or a simple tweet. After one knows that the player will most likely start then they should look at their opponent's stats to see how their chosen player will do in the game. Just this small amount of research will often give insight into how many points a player will produce during the week. Another side to the argument that fantasy sports are not determined mostly off of luck is that the opponent will also have the same factors involved with his or her team. These factors, if they do even occur, will be offset because the other players in the league will also be faced with the same difficulties. 

Some people would claim that it should not even matter if chance is the deciding factor of the game. Turco puts it best when he says that "[w]agering on the player's pre-selected, season-long fantasy sports team may arguably remove the element of chance inherent in daily fantasy sports leagues in which players pick new fantasy sports teams on a daily basis" (KMT). They say that fantasy sports should not be considered gambling despite chance's involvement because there are not any negative effects on people like most gambling has. Gambling has been pushed into a certain category that most people associate negatively with because it can ruin people's lives. The games that are considered gambling have all affected a person's life for the worst. It might have made them lose all their money on the slim chance that they could get rich off of little money or they get addicted to it and never spend time with friends or family. The people who think that fantasy sports should not be gambling no matter what claim that fantasy sports does not have any of these negative side effects. Michael Thompson wrote that "[t]he worst that this bastion of pure and clean fun has done is create a little more dissension between spouses over when it is time to log off the computer and leave the fantasy world" (Thompson 42). The game is not centered on making money but the money is only an added factor to make the game a little more interesting. This is backed up because a large number of people still play fantasy sports in leagues that do not require an entry fee to play. The other problem with gambling that tears people away from their family and friends is also not a problem when it comes to fantasy sports. The game was originally just a group of guys meeting up to draw cards and see whose players did the best throughout the season. This did not isolate people from their family and friends but also made the bonds stronger through playing the game with each other. The basics of the game have not changed and the game still acts as a medium for a group of friends to spend more time together while having a friendly competition. The reason that a lot of people are drawn to play may not even be for the love of sports or competition, "[t]hese games have the power to excite, bring people together and create a gaming experience that is innovative and unique" (Fong).

The language that everyone is debating is primarily over the definition of what wager and gambling is in the laws. Even though most people seem to think that "[f]antasy sports lack the typical evils associated with gambling ... " (Boswell 1259). Nelson Rose states laws do not to consider a game to be wagering if "[a]ll winning outcomes reflect the relative knowledge and skill of the participants and are determined predominantly by accumulated statistical results of the performance of individuals (athletes in the case of sports events) in multiple real-world sporting or other events" (Rose 347). This is quoted directly from a subchapter in the laws that defines the terms bet and wager but also gives the exceptions. Davidson seems to contradict that when he says that "[w]hen spectators bet on the outcome of individual games, they are accused of gambling. Why should it be any different if they bet on individual players" (Davidson 229).This exception applies to a game if the final outcome is determined on which participant knows the best about the game and players and mostly by points off of player's statistics for their game that week. The final result being determine by which player knows the most information and understand the game the best is what the controversy is primarily about. Both sides agree with the second half of the statement because fantasy sports are determined off of a point scale that is based off of the statistics for players. The side of people who argue that this exception does not apply to fantasy sports point to the word all. They argue that the small amount of chance, despite if it evens out for everyone, is enough to consider fantasy sports gambling. The other side thinks that there is enough data on the internet and even provided directly through the site that the user is playing to predict what little chance there is involved. 

The fantasy sports sites provide either an amount of money for a player or a rating for how many points they are predicted for that week. The more money a specific player is worth, the better the player is supposed to perform that given week or throughout the season. The side that fantasy sports is determined off a decent amount of chance has a case here because the team who has the top rated players should in theory win every time. This argument is wrong because no one should every have all the best players on one team. A user is given a money cap to buy his or her players with and they have to distribute this money around on their team. If they pick a few outstanding players, then they will only have enough money left for the rest of their team to be sub average players. No matter your knowledge of the game, because you have a certain amount of money " ... it is likely that contestants rely more on chance than on their skill in choosing athletes" (Davidson 229). The leagues that have the players' potential displayed through points instead of money are set up a little differently. The owner of the league picks a draft day where everyone in that league has to be on their computer to draft their team. If they are not able to make the draft date, then there is an automated picker. The players are listed from first to last in order of who is supposed to be the best. The problem here occurs if a user has already picked everyone in their lineup except for a linebacker or some other position but the top rated players for his turn are for a position that he already has. In this situation, the user must skip all the better players to fill a position that they have yet to fill. Picking your original team is where a lot of the skill and knowledge comes in to play. 

Another big discrepancy comes in how long the leagues are played for. Fantasy sports can last for an entire season or for as little as a day and everywhere in between. A lot of people claim that the longer the game is played, the less chance is involved. This is because the users are allowed to trade players throughout the season if they feel their player is not going to perform that specific week or is even unlikely to play at all. If the player is only going to be out for a game or is going to have a hard matchup that week then the user can sub for that player from his or her bench. The user must research to find out if their player is likely to perform well or is predicted to have an off week. Injury reports and matchup summaries are even provided by the fantasy sports sites. The sites that last for a shorter amount of time or sometimes only a day are classified as daily fantasy sports. These are more likely to be considered gambling because there is no substitutes or trading involved. The leagues are strictly based off of the players that are drafted at the very beginning and how they perform on game day. There is more chance because besides what the user knows by draft day there is nothing he or she can do if something were to happen to a player. 

Daily fantasy sports also have a higher appeal for getting rich quick which has the potential to grab the attention of gambling addicts. There is also a possibility to win money from season long fantasy sports but the payoff is lower because of how long it takes to get the money. A user is allowed to be in as many leagues as he or she prefers but the time that it takes to be successful in even one league barely leaves time for another. When frontline was doing an interview with a problem gambler, they stated that "[h]e says an addiction he thought was under control was reignited when he found daily fantasy sports" (Frontline 1:53). Cases like this can disprove the suggestion that the same bad side effects that are associated with gambling are not shared with fantasy sports. The type of fantasy sports was specifically defined as daily fantasy sports which has a bigger appeal to problem gamblers because of the chance to get rich within a very short amount of time, Davidson goes further with this statement when he argues that " ... criminals would probably choose a gambling operation that gives quick payouts, rather than wait until the end of the sports season" (Davidson 221). But with daily fantasy sports, the rewards are faster.

For these reasons, I suggest that daily fantasy sports should be considered gambling so that no more problem gamblers will be drawn back into their bad habits. There is also not enough skill involved for it to be considered a game of skill since there is nothing to do after your team has been selected. Season long fantasy sports should not be categorized as gambling because there is skill involved in drafting the team and deciding who to trade out and who to start every week throughout an entire season. There is also a slimmer attraction for gambling addicts because of how long it takes to earn the money. Season long fantasy sports should have to display that gambling addicts should not play as an extra precautionary move. Since the price money is not a lot and mostly just an added interest factor for the users, no one would be strictly playing to gain money. Instead, the users of these leagues are strictly playing to have a good competitive time with their friends while adding another reason to watch sports games. 

