The Coalition for Fantasy Sports is not on board with a recently published opinion from Virginia Attorney General Jason S. Miyares on how pick’em fantasy sports should be regulated in the state.

Miyares published an official opinion last week concluding that pick’em fantasy games should be considered as sports betting under Virginia law, as they pit users against the house instead of other users.

“Accordingly, it is my opinion that when a customer places a bet related to individual athletes’ performance metrics, the outcome of which is determined by reference to a contest operator’s established baseline rather than choices made by other customers, the customer is engaged in sports betting and not a fantasy contest,” he wrote.

Licensed fantasy companies still operating in Virginia

Attorney general opinions are not rulings and do not create new laws. The Virginia general assembly creates and amends laws in the state and may take the attorney genera’s opinion into consideration if a new law is ever considered.

A spokesperson for the Coalition for Fantasy Sports told Saturday Down South that it has a positive working relationship with governing agencies in the Commonwealth of Virginia and its licensed fantasy companies are still operating legally in Virginia.

The Coalition for Fantasy Sports represents PrizePicks, Underdog Fantasy, and Sleeper. All three of the fantasy companies are currently licensed and operating in Virginia.

“We disagree with the Attorney General’s opinion and look forward to continuing our positive working relationship with our governing agencies in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The opinion does not supersede the licensing process in place as established by the Virginia General Assembly. The Office of Charitable and Regulatory Programs (OCRP) is responsible for administering the Fantasy Contests Act in the Commonwealth. Our member companies are licensed and continue to operate legally in Virginia,” Allison Harris, Coalition for Fantasy Sports spokesperson told Saturday Down South.

Delegate requested Attorney General opinion

Virginia House of Delegates member Wren M. Williams requested the opinion from Miyares, specifically asking whether an arrangement involving “only a single customer” constitutes a fantasy contest or sports betting under Virginia law.

Because fantasy contests require multiple customers competing against each other, Miyares wrote, a gambling arrangement that involves customers betting on athletes’ performance metrics against an operator’s established baseline, and not other customers, constitutes sports betting.

“Accordingly, a ‘fantasy contest’ is one in which multiple individual contestants earn points based on statistical, not actual, results of athletes’ performances and a contestant wins upon garnering more points than the other contestants. The contest operator, or ‘the house,’ is not intended to be one of the individual contestants in a multi-player fantasy contest,” Miyares noted.

Miyares specifically pointed to pick’em style games and over/under player prop pick’em games. Based upon Virginia law, these do not fit the definition of a fantasy contest, he wrote, and align more closely with a form of sports betting.

In a footnote of his opinion, Miyares noted that any fantasy sports operator who wishes to offer these types of games in the state must comply with permitting requirements of the Virginia sports betting program established by the Virginia Lottery Board.