How is it going? My name is Sydney. I’m a seventh-grade student at St. Francis Middle School. State Rep. Joe Atkins is trying to pass a law about online fantasy sports. The law comes out Tuesday to the public.

Currently there are no laws in Minnesota regulating fantasy sports gambling. In the U.S. there is no law saying online gambling is illegal. Nobody says that it’s legal or illegal. People might get taken advantage of by not getting paid. When people get about 75 percent of the time they might win, and about half of that time they win they don’t get paid. So half the time you win you might not get paid your winnings. This is why we are trying to pass this law.

If we pass this law, this law would allow you to play fantasy sports. We are just making sure that you get paid when you win. Winners would be assured their money if the company was located in the USA. You can bet on NFL, NHL, NBA, etc.; you just can’t bet on high schools and colleges. Minnesotans spend over $100 million currently on fantasy sports. If fantasy gambling is legal, Minnesota would get 3 to 4 percent of that money. Money raised would go into the general fund to be used for education, roads, bridges, etc.

I want you to agree with State Rep. Joe Atkins’ law, so I want you to email or call your senator and tell him to vote for this law. We don’t want you to win and not get paid, so if you’re one of the people who want online gambling you should help us, and everyone in general. We don’t want to live life with people pretty much taking our money, so we should let our voices be heard, and make a stop to this!

 

Sydney Reed

St. Francis