© 2024 KRCU Public Radio
90.9 Cape Girardeau | 88.9-HD Ste. Genevieve | 88.7 Poplar Bluff
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Missouri Gaming Commission rolls out emergency rules for new daily fantasy sports law

The Missouri Gaming Commission meets to discuss and vote on emergency rules for overseeing daily fantasy sports websites.
The Missouri Gaming Commission meets to discuss and vote on emergency rules for overseeing daily fantasy sports websites.

The Missouri Gaming Commission is preparing to oversee daily fantasy sports websites under a new law passed this year.  

House Bill 1941, signed last month by Gov. Jay Nixon, takes effect Aug. 28, but its provisions still have to go through a public comment period before they become permanent next spring. 

So that sports fans can play this fall, commission members on Wednesday adopted emergency rules. Edward Grewach is general counsel for the gaming commission.

He told commission memers, "The ordinary rulemaking notice and time periods would not give us the ability to have permanent rules in place until March (30), so we're going to have a situation where we have to have applications ready to be accepted by Oct. 1."

The Missouri Gaming Commission meets to discuss and vote on emergency rules for overseeing daily fantasy sports websites.
Credit Marshall Griffin|St. Louis Public Radio
The Missouri Gaming Commission meets to discuss and vote on emergency rules for overseeing daily fantasy sports websites.

The emergency rules cover such things as applying for a fantasy sports operator's license, an operator's responsibilities, fees, and records; license suspensions, and lists of people banned from playing.

Grewatch said the rules will allow fantasy sports sites to legally operate in Missouri during the interim.

"You can start legally playing for any company that files its application with us before Oct. 1," he said.  "In other words, if somebody files an application on Sept. 14, on that day you're legal to play with that company; on the 13th you're not."

In addition, any daily fantasy sports site operating prior to April 1 of this year is "grandfathered in," as long as they file an application between Sept. 8 and Oct. 1.

For companies that apply after Oct. 1, Grewach said they would not be able to begin operations until after they receive a license.

A public hearing on the emergency rules is tentatively scheduled for Nov. 2.

Missouri will be the ninth state to regulate daily fantasy sports sites, after Nevada, Massachusetts, Virginia, Colorado, New York, Indiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Follow Marshall Griffin on Twitter:  @MarshallGReport

Copyright 2016 St. Louis Public Radio

St. Louis Public Radio State House Reporter Marshall Griffin is a native of Mississippi and proud alumnus of Ole Miss (welcome to the SEC, Mizzou!). He has been in radio for over 20 years, starting out as a deejay. His big break in news came when the first President Bush ordered the invasion of Panama in 1989. Marshall was working the graveyard shift at a rock station, and began ripping news bulletins off an old AP teletype and reading updates between songs. From there on, his radio career turned toward news reporting and anchoring. In 1999, he became the capital bureau chief for Florida's Radio Networks, and in 2003 he became News Director at WFSU-FM/Florida Public Radio. During his time in Tallahassee he covered seven legislative sessions, Governor Jeb Bush's administration, four hurricanes, the Terri Schiavo saga, and the 2000 presidential recount. Before coming to Missouri, he enjoyed a brief stint in the Blue Ridge Mountains, reporting and anchoring for WWNC-AM in Asheville, North Carolina. Marshall lives in Jefferson City with his wife, Julie, their dogs, Max and Liberty Belle, and their cat, Honey.