New York may soon regulate daily fantasy sports

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NEWS) - Daily fantasy sports could be coming back to New York soon.

"Oh, it's always been about the money. I mean, come on," says attorney Steve Kallas, who serves as WFAN's legal analyst. He called a deal lawmakers cut to legalize daily fantasy sports in the state of New York inevitable.

"As we all know gambling, this is gambling," he says. "They're somehow going to couch an exception to make this not gambling."

Because paying to place real professional athletes in individualized fantasy lineups and then scoring the combined stats of those players against the lineups of other competitors to hopefully win money -- by calling that "not gambling," New York can now collect millions of dollars.

The agreement legislators reached with DraftKings and FanDuel pays the state $150,000 a year from each company plus 15 percent of each business's in-state revenues after the gaming hosts distribute cash prizes.

Kallas believes if that math holds New York could collect even more than the estimated $5 million in daily fantasy money every year.

In a statement that DraftKings sent to Fox 5, the company wrote: "We are appreciative of the developments in New York and remain committed to being able to provide the millions of New Yorkers who enjoy fantasy sports with the games and sports experiences that they love."

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman shut down DraftKings and FanDuel earlier this year, but allowed lawmakers until the end of June to reach a deal.

By apparently doing so, Kallas believes the state has created a slippery slope toward blatant legalized betting on sports, pleasing seemingly everyone except casinos and anti-gambling advocates.

"I think sports gambling is coming and it's going to be: How can the states get money?" Kallas says.

Both houses of the state legislature still need to pass the bill form of this agreement before the governor can sign it into law.