With baseball season in full swing and football season around the corner, more than one million people across the state are playing paid fantasy sports games.
As the popularity of these games continues to rise across the country and the state, state lawmakers passed a bill this year that provides basic consumer protections for these contests that involve cash prizes.
District 48 State Senator Mark Messmer of Jasper says there’s a senate enrolled act that regulates paid fantasy sports games by the Paid Fantasy Sports Division of the Indiana Gaming Commission, creating transparency to ensure Hoosier participants are covered by basic consumer protections.
Some basic protections that must be followed by game operators include:
Verifying that a game participant is at least 18 years of age;
Disclosing the number of paid fantasy sports games that a single game participant may enter;
Divulging the values of all prizes and awards before the fantasy game begins;
And maintaining the security of identification and financial information for participants.
A game operator would also be required to pay an initial fee of at least $50,000, and up to $75,000, to conduct paid fantasy sports games with an annual $5,000 renewal fee.
Messmer says the bill also requires game operators or license holders to make an effort to withhold winnings from participants that are delinquent in child support.
You can contact Messmer’s office directly with any questions and concerns by email at Senator.Messmer@iga.in.gov or by phone at 800-382-9467.
