Remember when someone was “innocent until proven guilty”? Seems like a quaint notion these days.
Nowadays all police officers are guilty of whatever someone feels like accusing them of. All colleges are guilty of whatever someone’s particular neurosis mandates they be guilty of. nyone who differs with the president’s prescription for any given issue is a racist, etc., etc.
Why wait for the facts, or even actual evidence? The accusation is enough.
This mentality has leaped from crimes in the physical world to potential crimes in the virtual world.
I’ve never played fantasy sports, it’s just never interested me. But I have many friends who swear by it. “It makes watching a game so much more interesting,” is the common refrain I hear.
While I’m all for ripping on your friends for their “team” doing poorly, I prefer my sports bets (on the rare occasions I make them) to be straight up dinners for whomever’s team wins.
But I understand the appeal. It’s a way to be more connected to a game for superfans who follow every injury and streak, stat and probability. That’s not me. And while we seem to be living in a era where we’re criminalizing not living according to the wishes of others, that’s not me either.
That’s why what’s happening to those daily fantasy sports websites bothers me so much.
When I heard the Justice Department was launching an investigation into Fan Duel and Draft Kings to see if they’ve violated any laws, I thought “how un-American.”
That’s not a search for justice, it’s a hunt. No crimes have been alleged, not victims have come forward, but the government just wants to see…
Given the sheer number of laws on the books, both on the federal and state level, and the unlimited resources of the federal government, dare I say there isn’t a human being on the planet who could withstand an exploratory peek into our lives.
But the government is like the mafia – they want a taste. And even when they’re getting a taste, if they see business is good, they want bigger taste.
Another problem with government is it’s bought and paid for by people who aren’t you.
Try to start a business that competes with an existing large business and see how nearly impossible it is to get rolling.
The conventional wisdom is businesses love the free market, but that’s not the case at all. Big businesses want the government to leave them alone, but they’re more than happy to erect barriers and regulations making it nearly impossible for new competitors to emerge. That’s what’s happening with fantasy sports.
The main people complaining about these websites aren’t the people playing on them, they’re rich casino owners. While fantasy sports has nothing to do with slot machines and blackjack, billionaire casino owners view anything that doesn’t put money in their pockets as a competitor that must be crushed. So they pick up the phone…
Just as brick and mortar stores hate Amazon, physical casinos hate any website where people can win money. They’ve tried to shut down online poker and now they want to kill fantasy sports.
But like poker, fantasy sports is a game of skill. The more you study, the more you prepare, the better you will do. Familiar faces win poker tournaments not because they’re lucky; they’re the best.
You will never, ever be able to study and prepare your way to a slot machine win.
Still, the government is coming. Not only the feds, but several states want to make sure, preemptively, no laws are being broken. It’s like pulling someone over on the freeway because their car might smell of marijuana. There’s no way to know while they’re driving, but why not sniff around a little bit…just in case.
New York and Nevada have ordered these website to stop taking customers from their respective states until they can determine if what they’re doing is legal or not. Grown adults are being stopped from engaging in a voluntary activity because some elected official wants to make sure they’re not stupid.
Might I suggest that hunt begin with a reflective surface?
If people have taken what has been happening in offices and with friends for decades and found a way to up the scale, who cares? The people who think they have something to lose, that’s who.
You think the mob is going to allow a new store into their neighborhood without getting a taste? Absolutely not. They send in their goons to let the patrons know faulty wiring could ignite at any time.
In the business world, the government is the goon. They’re the warning shot across the bow from the businesses they’re beholden to, in this case casinos, letting the new guy know they have the power to crush them if they so choose.
It really does sound like some sort of movie or fantasy. But in the world of fantasy sports, as so many other industries, it’s all too real.