You are here: / / “INTERACTIVE FANTASY SPORT” (IFS) IS NOT “GAMBLING;”...

“INTERACTIVE FANTASY SPORT” (IFS) IS NOT “GAMBLING;” THE STATUTES AUTHORIZING AND REGULATING IFS ARE NOT, THEREFORE, UNCONSTITUTIONAL (CT APP).

The Court of Appeals, in a full-fledged opinion by Judge DiFiore, over a comprehensive three-judge dissent, determined the 2016 statutes authorizing and regulating “interactive fantasy sport” (IFS) do not violate the New York Constitution’s prohibition of “gambling:”

… IFS contests are not prohibited gambling activities because contestants use significant skill to select their rosters, creating fantasy teams, and therefore have influence over the outcome of the fantasy contests between IFS participants. … [T]he historic prohibition on “gambling” in article I, § 9 does not encompass skill-based competitions in which participants who exercise substantial influence over the outcome of the contest are awarded predetermined fixed prizes by a neutral operator. * * *

… [T]he prohibition on “gambling” in article I, § 9 [of the NYS Constitution] encompasses either the staking of value on a game in which the element of chance predominates over the element of skill or the risking of value through bets or wagers on contests of skill where the pool of wagered value is awarded upon some future event outside the wagerer’s influence or control. However, games in which skill predominates over chance and skill-based competitions for predetermined prizes in which the participants have influence over the outcome do not constitute “gambling.” … .

From the dissent:

Since 1894, New York’s Constitution has prohibited “lotter[ies] . . . poolselling, bookmaking, or any other kind of gambling.” Everyone knows that sports betting is gambling. Betting on how many touchdowns a particular player will score is gambling. … Aggregating several bets involving different players into a point total that is pitted against point totals of other bettors does not transform gambling into something else. White v Cuomo, 2022 NY Slip Op 01954, Ct App 3-22-22

Practice Point: Statutes authorizing “interactive fantasy sport” IFS are not unconstitutional because such skill-based competitions do not constitute “gambling” in which the element of chance, as opposed to skill, predominates.

 

You might also like
AFTER DEFENSE COUNSEL REPEATEDLY USED THE N-WORD (QUOTING A CO-DEFENDANT) IN CROSS-EXAMINING THE VICTIM A JUROR STOOD UP AND SAID SHE FOUND THE WORD VERY OFFENSIVE AND WOULD LEAVE IF COUNSEL USED THE WORD AGAIN; THE TRIAL COURT DID NOT CONDUCT A BUFORD HEARING TO DETERMINE WHETHER THE JUROR SHOULD BE DISQUALIFIED; CONVICTION AFFIRMED OVER A THREE-JUDGE DISSENT (CT APP).
COURT RECORDS RELATED TO PROCEEDINGS FOR THE COMMITMENT AND RETENTION OF DANGEROUS MENTALLY ILL ACQUITTEES ARE NOT CLINICAL RECORDS AND THEREFORE ARE NOT SUBJECT TO THE AUTOMATIC SEALING REQUIREMENT IN THE MENTAL HYGIENE LAW (CT APP).
WHERE A LAWSUIT AGAINST A UNION SEEKS INJUNCTIVE RELIEF, AS OPPOSED TO MONETARY DAMAGES, THE COMPLAINT NEED NOT ALLEGE EVERY MEMBER OF THE UNION RATIFIED THE CHALLENGED CONDUCT (CT APP).
THE SORA RISK-LEVEL ASSESSMENT PROCEEDINGS MUST BE CONDUCTED 30 DAYS BEFORE DEFENDANT’S RELEASE FROM CONFINEMENT, REGARDLESS WHETHER THE STATE IS CONSIDERING OR IS IN THE PROCESS OF INSTITUTING CIVIL COMMITMENT PROCEEDINGS (CT APP).
WHERE, AS HERE, THE SORA COURT EXPRESSLY FINDS THERE WAS NO SEXUAL CONDUCT OR MOTIVE UNDERLYING THE UNLAWFUL IMPRISONMENT OF A CHILD, THE REQUIREMENT THAT DEFENDANT BE DESIGNATED A SEX OFFENDER VIOLATES DEFENDANT’S DUE PROCESS RIGHTS (CT APP).
HERE THE OFFICE OF COURT ADMINISTRATION’S (OCA’S) BLANKET ASSERTION OF THE ATTORNEY-CLIENT PRIVILEGE RE: THE FOIL REQUEST FOR COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN OCA AND JUDGES WAS REJECTED; ALTHOUGH UPON REMAND THE PRIVILEGE MAY BE SHOWN TO APPLY TO INIDVIDUAL, IDENTIFIED DOCUMENTS, THE OCA DID NOT ESTABLISH AN ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP WITH ALL THE JUDGES SUCH THAT A BLANKET ASSERTION OF THE PRIVILEGE WAS APPROPRIATE (CT APP).
VILLAGE CODE PROVISION WHICH REQUIRES WRITTEN NOTICE OF A SIDEWALK DEFECT BEFORE MUNICIPAL LIABILITY CAN BE IMPOSED APPLIES TO A STAIRWAY FROM A PUBLIC ROAD TO A MUNICIPAL PARKING LOT, STAIRWAY SLIP AND FALL ACTION PROPERLY DISMISSED (CT APP).
QUESTION OF FACT WHETHER ALLOWING A CALF TO ESCAPE FROM A FARM WAS A PROXIMATE CAUSE OF THE DEATH OF A MOTORIST WHO STOPPED TO HELP THE CALF AND WAS STRUCK.

Categories

Sign Up for the Mailing List to Be Notified When the Site Is Updated.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright © 2026 New York Appellate Digest, Inc.
Site by CurlyHost | Privacy Policy

​ THE TARGETS OF A NO-KNOCK WARRANT ARE OWED A “SPECIAL DUTY”... THE INDUSTRIAL CODE PROVISION REQUIRING THAT POWER BUGGIES BE OPERATED BY TRAINED,...