Fantasy sports and gambling regulation in the Asia-Pacific

Fantasy sports competitions allow sports fans to become their own managers, to select and organize fantasy teams from existing real-life players in professional sports leagues. The performance of their fantasy teams is dependent on the actual on the field performance of these real-life players. As betting in professional sports is strictly regulated worldwide, fantasy sports offer a form of proxy sports bet. However, a gray area exists whether fantasy sports competitions involve chance (or luck) rather than pure team selection skills. If any form of chance is involved, fantasy sports will be subject to gambling laws and thus may be deemed illegal. With the US Supreme court recently clearing the way for legality of fantasy sports in its largest market, the focus shifts to the industry’s major growth market—Asia-Pacific. This paper reviews the state of fantasy sports and gambling regulation in the Asia-Pacific region. A 21-country analysis is undertaken, offering five insights for fantasy sports industry stakeholders. Based on our findings, we propose a Nevada-model regulatory framework for the Asia-Pacific fantasy sports market.