HF 281 (LSB 1188HV (2) 86)

HOUSE FILE 281

BY  COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT

(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 47)

(COMPANION TO SF 166 BY COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to fantasy sports contests.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 99B.11, subsection 2, Code 2015, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  f.  A fantasy or simulation sports contest in which all prizes and awards offered to winning participants are established and made known to the participants in advance of the contest and the value of the prizes or awards is not determined by the number of participants or the amount of any fees paid by the participants. All winning outcomes in such contest shall reflect the relative knowledge and skill of the participants and shall be determined predominantly by accumulated statistical results of the performance of individuals, including athletes in the case of sports events, in multiple actual sporting or other events, and no winning outcome shall be based on the score, point spread, or any performance or performances of any single actual team or combination of such teams or solely on any single performance of an individual athlete in any single actual sporting or other event.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with

the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill authorizes the paying of awards and prizes to participants in fantasy sports contest.
   Code section 99B.11, concerning bona fide contests, is amended to provide that a fantasy or simulation sports contest is a bona fide contest, allowing the payment of awards to persons winning the contest, if certain conditions are met. The bill provides that a fantasy sports contest is a bona fide contest if all prizes and awards offered to winning participants are established and made known in advance of the contest, all winning outcomes reflect the relative knowledge and skill of the participants and are determined predominantly by accumulated statistical results of the performance of individuals in multiple actual sporting events, and no winning outcome is based on the score, or performance of any single actual team or combination of such teams or solely on any single performance of an individual athlete in any single actual sporting or other event.