Michelle Ye Hee Lee

The Republic | azcentral.com

Arizona is among a handful of states where fantasy sports are technically illegal.

An Arizona bill aimed at legalizing the competitions failed, but supporters say they'll try again.

Fantasy competitions are increasingly ubiquitous activities for stat-crunching fans who want to own and manage their own dream teams of baseball players, football stars or even members of Congress.

What many Arizonans may not know, however, is that their state is among a handful where fantasy sports are technically illegal, posing potential legal risks for players and making them ineligible to win prizes.

"I thought, that's almost embarrassing,"Senate Majority Whip Adam Driggs, R-Phoenix, said at a hearing on Senate Bill 1468, which he sponsored to define fantasy sports in state law.

Despite Driggs' efforts to make fantasy competitions ­legal, the bill was killed in the Senate by opposition from ­Native American gaming ­proponents. Driggs said the issue is dead for the legislative season.

"I might try to see if there is any way to resolve some of the issues going forward," Driggs said Friday.

Driggs' bill intended to set fantasy sports apart from gambling and outline what would be considered a fantasy sport under state law.

March Madness and fantasy baseball leagues are under way, giving fans a chance to get as granular as they want in their favorite sport using players' real statistics to pick, play and trade them for a made-up team.

Bars and restaurants across the Valley having been playing host to league ­members walking in with their laptops to draft players for their fantasy teams.

There are even fantasy leagues for reality TV shows such as "The Bachelor," and fantasy Congress games in which players draft members and earn points if their politicians legislate effectively.

The fact that fantasy gaming is illegal in Arizona means fans here who participate in national fantasy competitions — games hosted by CNN, CBS Sports and Yahoo! Sports, for example — can't collect ­prizes, even if they win.

An Arizona ZIP code automatically bars residents from collecting money, T-shirts, posters or any other prizes, even if they entered the league without any entry fee, said Matt Morales of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association during his testimony to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Energy and Military.

Arizona police agencies have not been rounding up fantasy sports players, and the bill's failure probably won't change that.

But ambiguities in state law are unsympathetic to small-business owners and fans who want to see fantasy sports flourish and made available for all Arizonans, proponents say.

"I hope that we will pursue this again next year," said ­Stacie Stern, general manager of Head2Head Sports, a ­seasonlong fantasy-game ­provider based locally.

"The more people learn about fantasy sports and how it's not gambling, and that it's a game of skill, the more people understand that — the more they'll understand why it's just an oversight on the part of our state Legislature," she said.

The federal Unlawful ­Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 has an exemption for fantasy sports, based on the idea that such competitions are based more on skill than chance. But the industry is regulated on the state level. Proponents of the bill want to modernize state laws, said Stern, who is Driggs' neighbor and brought up the issue to him. Their ­efforts are likely to continue.

While initially there was no formal opposition to the measure, the Arizona Indian Gaming Association eventually came out in opposition because of its potential impact on tribal gaming compacts.

Association officials did not respond to requests for comment.