Dec. 24--You're right, Lisa Madigan. Daily fantasy sports raises some serious questions.
Here are three: Has Kirk Cousins elevated to QB1 status? When was the last time the guys in those DraftKings commercials showered? And, most important, why doesn't the federal government regulate and tax this industry?
Our state's attorney general has ruled that daily fantasy games "constitute gambling."
Duh, of course it's gambling. So is wagering on horse racing at Arlington International Racecourse, playing slots at Rivers casino, folding pocket deuces at Grand Victoria in Elgin, scratching off tickets at 7-Eleven and picking numbers for the Illinois Lottery.
Actually the lottery isn't so much a gamble as a full-on scam. Our state can't even pay winners of more than $600 because of the budget impasse.
As you might have noticed, Mrs. Madigan, Illinois is under water. It's why our property taxes are about to soar and why Mayor Rahm Emanuel created that bogus speed-enforcement program that tickets commuters "when children are present" -- or when they're not actually present.
Daily fantasy sports is way less harmful than day trading, but it's based on the same principles of research and risk. It's fun. So is online poker. So is, for those who are not problem gamblers, betting on sports.
I was interviewing golfer Laura Davies a few years back and she expressed amazement that Wrigley Field does not have betting windows. In her native England -- plus Ireland, Spain and Belgium -- consumers pop into a Ladbrokes betting shop like we stop at Starbucks.
But here our elected officials are either too busy trying to be the morality police or too lazy to come up with legislation that legalizes and taxes all forms of online wagering. New Jersey's Chris Christie actually belittled a fantasy sports question during a national debate.
But the industry is kind of a big deal, considering the Fantasy Sports Trade Association -- headquartered at 600 N. Lake Shore Drive in Chicago -- estimates that 56.8 million Americans and Canadians participate. Forbes estimates that fantasy sports will be a $1.7 billion industry by 2017.
So let's all cut the moral pretense and move on to what really matters -- gaining tax revenue.
tgreenstein@tribpub.com
