New Jersey Hearing Tomorrow Could Affect the Future of DFS

Daily fantasy sports (DFS) sites allow punters to wager on the success of teams they’ve created. Simple, right? Not so fast. DFS sites have been confronted with a miasma of issues over their basic legality. Is DFS sports betting? Or perhaps para-mutuel betting? Is it based on skill or luck? Who decides, the state or federal government? And then who governs it? The root of the problem goes back to decades-old laws established before the emergence of the internet, and the insufficiency of those laws is glaringly evident in the DFS question. 

Legislators across the U.S. struggle with the concepts and legalities of the convergence of sports betting, daily fantasy sports, skill-based gaming and I-gaming. And New Jersey’s hearing on February 17^th is likely to have an effect beyond state borders. Here’s the lowdown on the current state of DFS:

Sports Betting – Is currently controlled by PASBA, the Professional Amateur Sports Protection Act passed by U.S. Congress in 1992. The Act effectively outlaws all sports betting with an exception of licensed sports pools in Nevada and sports lotteries in Oregon, Montana and Delaware. Congress provided a one-year window of opportunity (until January 1, 1993) for states that had operated licensed casino gaming for the previous ten year period to pass laws permitting sports wagering.  This exception was clearly crafted with New Jersey in mind; New Jersey failed to take advantage of the opportunity.  Now, 23 years later they have taken their case to court to re-gain sports betting licensing. Their case is scheduled for hearing February 17^th of this year.  The case is against the professional sports leagues that want to stop New Jersey from allowing sports betting. 

The ruling on this case will likely set the future path for legislation on sports betting and fantasy sports betting throughout the US. A win by New Jersey would also be a win for Pennsylvania, Delaware, and the US Virgin Islands, all three in the same court jurisdiction as New Jersey. Other states including California have also expressed an interest by beginning public hearings on legalizing sports betting. A loss by New Jersey can be a damaging blow to fantasy sports.

Fantasy Sports – Beginning with the basics, participants in daily fantasy sports and sports-season long gaming.  Participants in fantasy sports assemble teams of athletes from a range of clubs in a given sport – with football being the most popular – and earn points based on the athletes’ subsequent games. They pay entry fees and can earn cash. Last year illegal insider activities between two major companies, FanDuel and DraftKing brought the concept of fantasy sports to the attention of regulators and lawmakers. Now lawmakers throughout the US have been handed this “hot potato” to determine whether it is legal or not.

To add to the complexity, each state must decide on the legality of DFS within their state. And each state’s laws define gambling differently. But New Jersey's decision could affect other states' decisions. 

So a number of questions arise:  Does fantasy sports betting violate state gaming laws?  Does it violate PASPA federal law?   Is season long legal and daily fantasy sports illegal?  If it is legal how does each state regulate it, or is the need to have a consumer protection oversight versus extensive regulatory oversight?

Skill-Based Games and Gaming:

Skill-based gaming is at the forefront of discussions among legislators, state gaming commissioners and control boards, casino operators and owners, and gaming equipment regulators.   As we have discussed, the concept of skill-based is at the heart of fantasy sports. It is equally discussed as a concept for casino equipment play.  With skill-based casino games, electronic gambling machines that offer players an element of skill are seen as important to capturing the next generation of casino players who have grown up playing sophisticated games. The discussion is at the heart of tapping into the Millennial- age group. 

What will New Jersey decide tomorrow, and will it affect the outcome nationally? We'll look into these issues in more depth in the coming weeks. 

The Coushatta Tribe Traditions: Interview with Cultural Consultant Leland Thomson

Leland Thompson is a cultural consultant for the Tribe’s social services department. Thompson recalls being taught disciplinary sayings about proper ways to behave, including how to treat others and the natural world. He never learned the specific reasons for their importance, but adhered to many during his wife’s first pregnancy. Watching movies with violent content and walking across wires, for instance, was prohibited. “Our elders told us what we can’t do, but they wouldn’t tell us why. And then I started going back and asking, and they said, ‘Well it’s just discipline.’ Questioning an elder would be questioning an authority figure, so it would be disrespectful. But I explained to them why we need to know, because so many of the reasons are being lost.”

Whether or not the reasons are clear, Thompson, like most of the Tribal members, still honors the Tribe’s traditions. When his daughter, Gwyneth, was four months old, the family held a predawn hair shaving ceremony. “It’s the last rite of cleansing from the mother’s womb,” he explains. The baby’s hair is “the last part of the mother on the child,” and the ceremony is “the time you decide what you want your baby to be interested in. Whatever you think will help your baby in the future is placed under the child, and it’s also a gift to the child.” Thompson placed under Gwyneth a Bible, a dictionary and a river-cane basket he had just learned to make.  Other gifts included eagle feathers for dancing. Though tradition holds that the child’s uncle should perform the shaving, Gweneth has no uncles. His grandmother shaved Gwyneth just as she had shaved Leland when he was four months old but had no uncles. “The hair is taken up and kept,” he says. “It came from the baby.  You put it somewhere in your house.  You can’t throw it away because the baby still needs it. In its own way, it gets lost. It makes its way out.”

Just as their language and their culture are important aspect of Coushatta are important to them, so is their heritage of agriculture. The Koasati were traditionally agriculturists growing a variety of maize, beans, squash and other vegetables. The tribe carries on the tradition with extensive farming and ranching including the farming of rice, soybeans and crawfish plus horse and cattle ranching and a Christmas tree farm.

Their heritage is shown too through their community structure. Their community of today reflects the older forms of building of culture by maintaining their traditional disbursed forms as the Koasati-Creek have done. Their church ball field complex became the center of their disbursed population, which later gave way in part to a tribal center-ball field complex. This center clearly corresponds to the traditional hothouses of the Creeks and their neighbors. The Coushatta have maintained their traditional values while modifying the architectural forms. The symbolic value of socio-religious center with a public building and a ball field to the west has persisted.

Their value of entrepreneurship has been a core strength of their existence. Their modern-day enterprise beginning with the 1965 tribal arts and crafts business followed by their successful efforts to achieve state then federal recognition in 1973, their drive toward independence through farming and ranching all laid groundwork for the 1995 establishment of their casino gaming and resort. Today they own and operate The Grand Casino Coushatta Resort, one of the largest gaming and resort complexes in east of the Mississippi River. This successful enterprise has enabled the Tribe to expand its farming and cultural programs and assist in providing significant housing, health care and cultural projects for their citizens. 

The Coushatta Tribe: Heritage and Origin

Historically the Coushatta Tribe was known as Koasati. The tribe was part of the Creek alliance known to have been established in villages near the junction of the Alabama, Coosa, and Tallapoosa Rivers near the present-day Wetumpka, in northwest Alabama. They were gradually pushed off their land by colonial expansion and migrated to Louisiana in the 1760s. Many members continued on to Texas, but a small group remained behind inhabiting Indian Village near the town now known as Kinder in Allen Parish, Louisiana. Some other Koasati who did not move to Louisiana and Texas were taken to Oklahoma during the Indian Removal of the 1830s.  The Koasati or Coushatta now consists of three federally recognized tribes, the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas, the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, and the Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town in Wetumpka, Oklahoma.

By 1861 the Louisiana tribe was living along the Calcasieu River near Kinder. As land-hungry settlers forged into that area, the tribe purchased land near Elton in Allen Parish and moved there in 1884. Tribal members live in both locations today, continuing to follow their matriarchal clan system like their Creek ancestors.  The clans are family units among the tribe in which each clan has its own speaker who in turn works with the chief.  The seven large Coushatta clans still in existence are those of the Deer, the Panther, the Beaver, the Daddy Long Legs Spider, the Bear, the Turkey, and the Bobcat.

The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana boasts of maintaining its culture and heritage. Their emphasis on the maintenance of the Koasati language, emphasis on the clan system, their heritage and culture, and agriculture are inherent in their present day lives. Many of today’s Coushatta still craft baskets, use medicinal plants to supplement modern medicine and supplement their strong Christian faith with traditional beliefs. Today’s Louisiana Coushatta still speak the Koasati language of their ancestors. Remarkably, of the 175 indigenous languages remaining on the entire North American continent, only 20 are spoken by people of all ages as vigorously as the Coushatta. Koasati language is taught to all ages in their language school and is spoken in offices, homes and at social gatherings. The Koasati Language Center Training Program is among the most prominent of all North American Tribes.

Losing their Land and their Recognition: The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana

The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana was formally recognized by the United States Congress as a sovereign nation on June 27, 1973.

A form of federal recognition first came in 1868, when 160 acres of land was placed in trust for the tribe. Federal educational and medical assistance programs and an elementary school were received by 1930, but in 1953 the Bureau of Indian Affairs termination policy halted services to the tribe and removed the land from trust. Legally this meant the Coushatta Tribe no longer officially existed. 

In 1965 members of the tribe formed the Coushatta Indians of Allen Parish, Inc., a tribal arts and craft business. They made baskets and other crafts, sold them to the business and in turn, they were sold to the public. “That was their living,” recalls tribal elder Florine Pitre. They had lost their services. This venture also provided a gathering place for tribal members, and in so doing laid the groundwork for the push to regain federal recognition.

Coushatta members appealed to the Louisiana state legislature for recognition and received it in 1972. That same year federal officials agreed to resume medical services to the tribe. The tribe then formed Coushatta Alliance, Inc., which drafted a tribal constitution and sought funding for governmental development and a tribal office. Their federal recognition was granted in 1973. Two years later by federal proclamation the tribe received fifteen acres of land as their tribal reservation. The Coushatta were once again rooted to an area by soil.

Revenue Increases Across the Southeast

SOUTHEASTERN REGION

A healthy 6+% increase in gaming revenues for both periods.

Total SE States Q3

	2014	2015	YoY Change	YoY %Change
Arkansas	$57,436,325	$74,144,124	$16,707,799	29.1%
Florida	$117,410,536	$123,249,113	$5,838,577	4.9%
Louisiana	$613,539,203	$668,485,712	$54,946,509	8.9%
Mississippi	$515,454,977	$527,344,744	$11,889,767	2.3%
Total	$1,303,841,041	$1,393,223,693	$89,382,652	6.9%

Total SE States YTD

	2014	2015	YoY Change	YoY %Change
Arkansas	$153,143,317	$196,599,885	$43,456,568	28.3%
Florida	$381,744,767	$403,713,222	$21,968,455	5.7%
Louisiana	$1,846,966,230	$2,016,013,943	$169,047,713	9.1%
Mississippi	$1,597,021,786	$1,606,408,402	$9,386,915	0.6%
YTD SE States Total	$3,978,876,100	$4,222,735,452	$243,859,352	6.1%

ARKANSAS

Continued significant year-over-year increase in both 3-month and three quarter gaming revenues resulting from increase in the gaming devices.

Arkansas	2014	2015	YoY Change	YoY %Change
Oaklawn Q3	$20,996,222	$29,269,531	$8,273,309	39.4%
Oaklawn YTD	$54,789,119	$76,363,854	$21,574,735	39.3%
Southland Park Q3	$36,440,103	$44,874,593	$8,434,490	23.1%
Southland Park YTD	$98,354,198	$120,236,031	$21,881,833	22.2%
Arkansas Q3 Total	$57,436,325	$74,144,124	$16,707,799	29.1%
Arkansas YTD Total	$153,143,317	$196,599,885	$43,456,568	28.3%

    Source: Electronic Games of Skill Revenues, Arkansas Racing Commission    

FLORIDA

Florida Racinos showed healthy increases in gaming revenues for both 3-month and three quarter periods. 

Florida	2014	2015	YoY Change	YoY %Change
7 Racinos Q3	$117,410,536	$123,249,113	$5,838,577	4.9%
7 Racinos YTD	$381,744,767	$403,713,222	$21,968,455	5.7%

     Source:  Florida Racino Monthly Slot Revenues, UNLV Center for Gaming Research

LOUISIANA

The Lake Charles Region carried all of the increases in gaming revenues for year-over year and most of the three-month totals.  The Baton Rouge Region was steady, Bossier City/Shreveport down for both periods and New Orleans mixed with positive numbers for the 3-month period and negative for the three quarters.

Louisiana	2014	2015	YoY Change	YoY % Change
Baton Rouge Region Q3	$91,135,042	$91,750,847	$615,799	0.7%
Baton Rouge Region YTD	$280,335,623	$289,130,912	$8,795,289	3.1%
Bossier/Shreveport Q3	$189,677,613	$183,841,304	-$5,835,309	-3.1%
Bossier/Shreveport YTD	$560,431,636	$557,342,167	-$3,089,469	-0.6%
Lake Charles Region Q3	$178,661,149	$231,425,648	$52,764,499	29.5%
Lake Charles Region YTD	$518,709,856	$691,166,665	$172,456,809	33.2%
Louisiana Q3 Total	$613,539,203	$668,485,712	$54,946,509	8.9%
Louisiana YTD Total	$1,846,966,230	$2,016,013,943	$169,047,713	9.1%

     Source:  Louisiana Gaming Control Board, Monthly Revenue Reports

MISSISSIPPI

Continued healthy growth in gaming revenues for the 3-month period and the first three quarters, continued negative numbers for the Mississippi River Region for both periods. Losses were modest for the 3-months. Overall Mississippi up slightly for the 3-month and three quarter periods.

Mississippi	2014	2015	YoY Change	YoY % Change
Gulf Coast Region Q3	$278,082,526	$293,408,522	$15,325,997	5.5%
Gulf Coast Region YTD	$821,081,635	$873,050,102	$51,968,467	6.3%
Mississippi River Region Q3	$237,372,445	$233,936,222	-$3,436,223	-1.4%
Mississippi River Region YTD	$775,940,151	$733,358,299	-$42,581,852	-5.5%
Mississippi Q3 Total	$515,454,977	$527,344,744	$11,889,767	2.3%
Mississippi YTD Total	$1,597,021,786	$1,606,408,402	$9,386,615	0.6%

     Source:  Mississippi Gaming Commission Monthly Revenue Reports

The Miccosukee Indian Tribe of Florida: Cuban Recognition Pressured the BIA

Read Part 1 of the Miccosukee history.

In August 1957 the Seminole Tribe of Florida received its federal recognition without the Miccosukee people. A strong dissident faction had been developing throughout the 1950s among the Mikisuki-speaking Seminoles living along the Tamiami Trail. To demonstrate to the US government and force the government to recognize the Miccosukee Tribe, their leader, Buffalo Tiger led a group to Cuba in 1959 where they asked Fidel Castro for, and were granted, international recognition as a sovereign country within the United States. The following year the State of Florida gave the Seminoles hunting, fishing and frogging rights to 14,620 acres of the Everglades. In 1961 the Indians living along the Tamiami Trail organized themselves as the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. On January 11, 1962, the Secretary of the Interior approved the Miccosukee Constitution and the Tribe was officially recognized by the US government as the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, legally establishing their existence and their sovereignty within the US. Later they acquired several pieces of land in parts of the Everglades and Miami areas to serve as their own reservation including much of the 14,620 acres of land previously given to the Seminole. In 1967 there were 150 members of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida and 200 unorganized Mikasukis living in the area.

According to the Miccosukee Constitution, the governing body of the Tribe is the Miccosukee General Council which is comprised of adult members 18 years or older. The officers of the General Council are: the Chairman, Assistant Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary and Lawmaker. Each officer holds office for a four year term. This group also has the position and responsibilities as the Miccosukee Business Council.

On May 4, 1971, officers of the Miccosukee Corporation, acting on behalf of the Miccosukee Tribe, signed a contract with the Bureau of Indian Affairs authorizing the corporation to operate all programs and services provided for the Miccosukee Community formerly administered by the BIA. The Tribal intent in negotiating this matter was clear; the people wished to decide their own fate and gradually develop total independence.

Membership in the Tribe is open to individuals who have Miccosukee mothers and are not enrolled in any other Tribe. They are direct descendants of those who eluded capture. The Miccosukee service area is comprised of Tribal members residing along the Tamiami Trail from Miami to Naples. The total population of the Miccosukee service area is about 640.

Today the Tribe operates a health clinic, police department, judicial system, day care center, community action agency and an educational system ranging from a Head Start pre-school program through senior high school, adult vocation and higher education programs. Their programs incorporate traditional Indian and non-Indian ways. All programs are located in the Tamiami Trail Reservation where the Miccosukee Community resides.

The Miccosukee enterprises include a Tribal restaurant and general store, service station and Indian Village on the Tamiami Trail Reservation; an Indian gaming casino, bingo and hotel complex and tobacco shop on the Krome Avenue Reservation; and an outstanding golf and country club facility, full service gas station and service plaza on the Alligator Alley Reservation.

The Miccosukee Indian Tribe of Florida: Survival in a Harsh Environment

The Miccosukee Indian Tribe of Florida was federally recognized in 1962 by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Secretary of the Interior. According to well-known Tribal Historian and author, Jerald T. Milanich, “Floridians were amazed in 1962 when the Miccosukee Tribe was federally recognized by the federal government. Few people realized that the Miccosukee had long been in Florida; most people simply thought they were Seminoles.”

Miccosukee Indians were a part of the Creek nation living in north Florida north of the current city of Tallahassee. The village or town of Miccosukee or Mikasuki was settled by members of the Miccosukee Tribe and its believed had become part of the developing Seminole Nation, north Florida neighbors immediately west of Miccosukee. It was mapped by the British in 1778 and originally called Mikasuki. The British records note there were 60 homes, 28 families and designed with a typical Creek town square. Andrew Jackson invaded the village in 1818 and defeated their Chief Kinhagee and destroyed the homes and farms. Like many Georgia and north Florida Creeks they left following the raids by the U.S. government forces and joined the Seminoles in Florida. Nearly all of written history declares the Miccosukee people as being part of the Seminole, perhaps being distinguished by being Mikasuki-speaking versus the Hitachi-speaking Seminole.

During the Indian Wars of the 1800s, most of the Miccosukee were removed to the west, but about 100, mostly Mikasuki-speaking Creeks, never surrendered and eventually hid out in the Florida Everglades. To survive in this new environment they had to adapt to living in small groups in temporary “hammock style” camps spread through the Everglades’ vast river of grass. The Miccosukee stayed isolated in this environment for about 100 years, resisting efforts to become assimilated into the growing Florida population. Then the Tamiami Trail was built across the Everglades from Miami to Naples in 1928. The Tribe was now exposed and eventually accepted the New World’s concepts while retaining their traditional ways.

As we previously discussed, the Seminole Tribe was proposed for termination of Indian rights and privileges in 1952. “Being proposed for termination galvanized the Seminoles.  On October 9, 1953 an emergency meeting was called at the Indian agency headquarters in the Dania, Florida Reservation. There were two issues to be considered:  First, convincing the U.S. government that the Seminole Tribe was not ready to take over management of its own affairs, and second, convincing the government that all native people living in Florida were not Seminole.” In August 1957 the Seminole Tribe of Florida received its federal recognition without the Miccosukee people.