Fantasy Sports in Australia: Co-Regulation and Commercial Accommodation

Abstract

Modern, commercial fantasy sports came to Australia in 2001. It has since grown into a significant and accepted part of the Australian sporting and gambling landscape. Fantasy sports’ mainstreaming has been relatively uncontroversial. It has found its place within Australia’s regulatory regimes absent the controversy and disputes that has plagued it in the United States. Its operators have been licensed and there have been no significant challenges to the products they offer. This is not to say that fantasy sports are without their regulatory and legal issues in Australia. On the contrary, such issues abound. These range from how fantasy sports should be regulated and its integrity ensured, to the nature, ownership and protection of the intellectual property and other rights upon which fantasy sports depend for their success. This article explores these issues and the manner of their resolution. This examination reveals a regulatory environment that co-opts sport governing bodies as co- or quasi-regulators of gambling on the sports they administer, which position they have leveraged to reach commercial accommodations with fantasy sport operators, thereby creating a stable environment in which both share in the revenues it generates.

Keywords: Fantasy sports, Australia, intellectual property, gambling, regulation, law

JEL Classification: K00, K11, K20, K23, L83