Florida pols push ‘light touch’ DFS bill while Pennsylvania hearing fizzles

Florida legislators are preparing a bill to regulate daily fantasy sports following intense lobbying by DFS operators.

On Tuesday, State Sen. Joe Negron and Rep. Matt Gaetz filed draft legislation that would require DFS operators to pay a $500k license fee, with annual renewals set at $100k. But the bill wouldn’t treat DFS as a gambling activity and contains no mention of taxation of DFS revenue.

The bill would create Section 547.01 of the Florida Statutes to define DFS operators as those offering “fantasy games for a cash prize to more than 750 members of the public.” The bill would bring DFS under the control of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Section 547.02 would bar DFS employees from entering any contest in which the cash prize was over $5. Operators would have to impose an undefined cap on the number of DFS contests any one player can enter.