Maryland’s fashionably late adoption of daily fantasy sports regulations went into effect on January 2, 2017, providing several consumer safeguards in the industry. State regulations surrounding the industry came flooding in after fantasy sport kingpins DraftKings Inc. and FanDuel Inc. faced a number of class action suits in 2015. Maryland’s regulations appear much less restrictive than most, however, in that they do not require operators to shell out a high registration fee (Virginia requires a whopping $50,000), and they set its minimum age at 18 as opposed to the majority of states, which require players to be 21.
The regulations create a $1,000 ceiling for player’s monthly deposits, a number that is low for high-volume DFS participants. In addition, professional athletes are precluded from participating in contests in their respective sports, as are individuals affiliated with DFS operators. The regulations also ban contests based on college/amateur sports.