Kansas daily fantasy sports have been legal since May 2015. Governor Sam Brownback signed the bill legalizing DFS and opened the door to sites such as DraftKings and FanDuel. Kansas is somewhat of a mix bag when it comes to legal gambling as charitable gambling, pari-mutuel, lotteries and tribal are all legal, while commercial gambling, online, racetrack, and sports betting are illegal.

Todd Winkler, Editor at online-gambling.com

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Todd Winkler has been an editor at online-gambling.com for 6 years. His focus is on guides and articles about poker games, blackjack, and DFS. With relatives in New Zealand, he is also well aware of the gambling industry in the country.

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Online Daily Fantasy Sports in Kansas – Overview

The legal status of daily fantasy sports can sometimes be a little complicated as a lot of states have not yet ruled explicitly on its legal status. Fortunately, Kansas is one of the states which has made things clear by putting legislation into place to make daily fantasy sports legal. On 24th April 2015, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt published a six-page memo which showed that he viewed fantasy sports in general as something that should be legally allowed. The memo stated: “If fantasy sports leagues fall within the definition provided in [the law], then fantasy sports leagues are games of skill and therefore are not lotteries”.

One month later, on 20th May 2015, the state clarified its stance on daily fantasy sports with the HR 2155 bill. This made it clear that DFS is legal in Kansas, which is great news for the 500,000 Kansas residents who like to participate in fantasy sports leagues.

Let’s take a look at some of the top leagues which are available in Kansas:

Online Daily Fantasy NFL – Get Some Skin in the Game

When it comes to daily fantasy sports, NFL is top of the list. There are so many players, teams, and stats that you can take into account which means that things are always changing and, therefore, always interesting!In NFL DLS, the idea is to draft a team of eight or nine players before the Sunday and Monday games. Of course, you will need to make sure that the players you are choosing don’t cost more than you can afford on the set budget too.People in Kansas state love the NFL and numerous big players in the league started out in Kansas, so this is always a popular DFS in the state too.

Online Daily Fantasy NBA – Cherry Pick Your Team

Much like in NFL, if you are playing in an NBA fantasy league then you will choose eight players for your team, staying within the $50,000 budget. The person who wins the contest is the one with the highest total points at the end.There are couple of former Kansas state players currently in the NBA (Wesley Iwundu and Rodney McGruder) so residents of Kansas are always interested to see how their boys are doing.

Online Daily Fantasy MLB – Knock It Out of the Park

Major League Baseball is one of the original fantasy sports leagues. If you want to take part, you will need to draft ten players to enter into the competition, with no more than five hitters per team. The players you choose much be on the week’s playing roster, and they must be scheduled in for a minimum of two MLB games as well.Since Kansas state doesn’t have any teams in the MLB, you might think that it isn’t a very popular option there. You would be wrong though – after all, it is America’s pastime!

Online Daily Fantasy MLS – In the Back of the Net

The MLS fantasy league has slightly more complicated rules than others, so it is worth reading up if you want to start playing. The basics are still the same though; you need to draft eight players into your team and each player must be taking part in at least two different games. Points are earned (or lost) on goals and cards.As with the MLB, Kansas does not have any teams in the MLS. However, five players born there do play (Nick Besler (RSL), Eric Dick (SKC), Tyler Freeman (SKC), Kortne Ford (COL), Jon Kempin (CLB) ), so residents definitely still have someone for whom to cheer!

College Sports – Kansas Jayhawks

The Kansas Jayhawks, also known simply as KU, are the teams coming from the University of Kansas. KU, along with two other schools from Kansas, participates in NCAA Division I. The KU athletics teams have actually won eleven NCAA Division I championships: three in men’s basketball, one in men’s cross country, three in men’s indoor track and field, three in men’s outdoor track and field, and one in women’s outdoor track and field.

The men’s basketball team is of particular interest, as the Jayhawks’ team is one of the most successful and prestigious programs in college basketball history. The first Jayhawks coach was James Naismith who is credited with actually inventing the game!

Timeline of Daily Fantasy Sports Legislation

Kansas has been somewhat ahead of the game with some of its laws surrounding gambling. Bingo was the first type of gambling to become fully legalized, with a state-run lottery coming a whole eight years later.

If you would like to know more about gambling in Kansas in general, you can have a look at our dedicated Kansas gambling page.

Legal Daily Fantasy Betting Age in Kansas

The age limits on gambling in Kansas depend on the type of gambling you want to do. For lotteries and charitable gambling, the minimum age is 18 years old. However, for racing and casinos, you must be at least 21 years old.Unlike other states, Kansas punishes both the player and the operator if someone is found to be gambling illegally. It is a misdemeanor to gamble at an unlicensed establishment, but the operator faces a level 8 felony charge.

• DFS Betting Age
  The gambling age for daily fantasy sports in Kansas is 21 years old.

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• Alcohol Age
  You must be at least 21 years old to drink in Kansas.
• Weed Age
  Smoking marijuana for recreational purposes is still illegal in Kansas.

Is Daily Fantasy Betting Legal Outside of the State?

Daily fantasy sports is legal in the majority of US states now, with only ten states not accepting DFS players. Many states have not explicitly made it legal but still accept players as it is a bit of a gambling gray area.

Colorado daily fantasy betting has been legalized following in the footsteps of neighbors Kansas. The act of legalizing was done fairly recently, in June 2016. daily fantasy betting in Missouri has also been made legal in the very same month. Taking a look at Kansas’s other neighbors, both Oklahoma and Nebraska have legislative bills pertaining to DFS introduced in the states.

Outside of the United States of America, daily fantasy sports is slowly becoming more popular, although the US still hosts the majority of players. DFS operators do allow players from outside of the US as well. For example, DraftKings is also available in Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Germany, Austria, and Malta.

The Best Fantasy Sports App in Kansas

In this day and age, fewer and fewer people are gambling from their home computers; you are probably far more likely to be playing from your smart phone. The majority of operators have optimized their sites for mobile too, and some of them have downloadable apps as well. Luckily, DraftKings has got an excellent fantasy sports app that you can use. It has a really great interface, so choosing you players and entering competitions is faster and easier than ever.

Taxes on Daily Fantasy Winnings: Legal Overview

Winnings from all types of gambling will be taxed under federal law at 25%. The lottery and casinos will take this off your winnings before you even get them, so you don’t need to worry about it. Some states add their own tax on top of this. In Kansas, there is an additional 5% gambling winnings tax, so you will pay a total of 30% in tax. As of 2013, gambling losses are also no longer considered to be tax deductible in Kansas.

The tax regulations can be quite confusing, but if you have any questions you can have a look through the IRS website for all the information.

Upcoming Regulation Changes to Be Aware Of

Obviously, a lot of states are still deciding what to do about daily fantasy sports legally and so have a lot of potential changes coming down the line. Since Kansas has already decided to make it legal, we don’t expect things to change much in the near future. Online gambling is the next big thing that could change, but as recent bills have been more anti-gambling again, we think it is unlikely that Kansas will be changing its laws on online gambling any time soon.

Daily Fantasy Guides for Nearby States

• Colorado
• Nebraska
• Missouri
• Oklahoma