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Congress to Examine Fantasy Football Pay Sites?

If you watched NFL games over the weekend, you were inundated with commercials from Draft Kings or FanDuel, fantasy football websites that promised payouts with real money.
Image: Odell Beckham
New York Giants wide receiver Odell Beckham (13) gestures before an NFL football game against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday, Sept. 13, 2015, in Arlington, Texas.Tony Gutierrez / AP
By Luke Russert

If you watched NFL games over the weekend, you were inundated with commercials from Draft Kings or FanDuel, fantasy football websites that promised payouts with real money.

Well a congressman from New Jersey noticed too and wants to review the legality of the sites because as online poker players know, Internet gambling is illegal in the United States.

Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., sent this letter (.pdf) to the GOP Leaders of the House Energy Commerce Committee, writing that he wanted to “hold a hearing examining the relationship between professional sports and fantasy sports to review the legal status of fantasy sports and sports betting."

Pallone asserts that the leagues operate in murky legal territory and points out the hypocrisy of professional sports leagues like the NFL being opposed to legalized betting but invested in pay-out fantasy sites.

The congressman is also playing a local angle: His home state of New Jersey tried to set up a sports book in Atlantic City but was denied after sports leagues sued.

It's unclear if this issue will be reviewed further by the Committee but the notoriously secret NFL most likely does not want to testify under oath on why the fantasy pay sites are different than a sports book.

The NFL did not immediately return a request for comment.

Luke Russert

Luke Russert joined NBC News in August 2008 as a correspondent based in Washington, D.C. Russert currently reports from Capitol Hill on the House of Representatives for “Nightly News with Brian Williams,” “TODAY,” MSNBC and NBCNews.com.

Since late 2011 Russert has served as a guest host on various MSNBC programs including: “Way Too Early” “The Daily Rundown with Chuck Todd” “Andrea Mitchell Reports” “NOW with Alex Wagner” and “The Cycle.”

From March 2006-2010, Russert co-hosted the sports radio talk show "60/20 Sports" with political pundit James Carville on Sirius-XM Satellite Radio. On "60/20 Sports" he interviewed the likes of former President Clinton, former President George Bush, Bill Russell, Cal Ripken Jr. and Lance Armstrong.

In May of 2009, Russert was honored with the Marlin Fitzwater Award for Leadership in Public Communication from Franklin Pierce University, an award meant to honor individuals who have made significant contributions to public discourse in the spirit of a healthy democracy. He’s also received an honorary degree from Wingate University in North Carolina.

Russert graduated from Boston College with a double major in history and communications. He is the son of the late Tim Russert and Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth. Russert lives in Washington, D.C., with his pug Chamberlain.