Christie Stated That Fantasy Sport Shouldn't be Regulated

Within hours after one of the state's lawmakers announced he was looking into the regulation of daily Fantasy Sports in New Jersey, in a surprise move Gov. Chris Christie expressed the opposite point of view. The governor, who is a Republican presidential candidate, had stressed during a monthly radio show that he did not think daily Fantasy Sports equated to gambling and therefore should not be regulated. He stated on 101.5-FM that he did not think DFS was gambling. Recently the billion dollar DFS industry faced scrutiny over allegations of insider trading. It is reported that the FBI and the U.S. Justice Department were looking into the matter, and that some critics have called for regulation of the industry. Proponents of DFS say that fantasy sports are not games of chance but games of skill, and therefore should not be regulated.

A New Jersey Lawmaker Wants to Regulate Fantasy Sports

In the third Republican Presidential debate, Mr. Christie made headlines recently when a moderator asked a governor's rivals where he stood on this issue. Mr. Christie jumped in asking: "Are we talking about getting the government involved in Fantasy Football?" He continued that the country is $19 trillion in debt, that there are people out of work, that ISIS is an issue as well as al Qaeda attacking them - and we are talking Fantasy Football? "Can we stop?" he asked. On a radio show he said it was an asinine question to be asking people who are running for president of the U.S. This comment came quite shortly after the state Sen. Jim Whelan (D-Atlantic) said he would soon be introducing a bill that would mean that the daily Fantasy Sports companies such as DraftKings and FanDuel, and casinos that offer Fantasy Sports, would be regulated and vetted within New Jersey in the same way that online companies were being vetted. Mr. Christie said that he and his son Andrew run a team in a Fantasy Football league together with a group of the governor's friends from law school. He said that the league was "friendly", meaning that the players did not compete for money. He stated that his team was 6-1. It is a fun thing to do with friends, said the governor.