# One day/week fantasy leagues--how are they not gambling?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-week-fantasy-leagues-how-are-they-not-gambling/702427>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 25, 2014, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-week-fantasy-leagues-how-are-they-not-gambling/702427 "2014-10-25T05:25:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\
**Post date:** [October 25, 2014, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-day-week-fantasy-leagues-how-are-they-not-gambling/702427/1 "2014-10-25T05:25:06Z")

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I listen to a bunch of podcasts, and on a bunch of the podcasts I listen to, I’m treated to a lot of ads for sites like Draft Kings dot com and Fan Duel dot com. Basically, these are fantasy sports websites, offering cash payouts and requiring cash buy-ins. What makes them different from fantasy leagues generally is that, depending on the sport, they’re one-day (baseball) or one-week (American football) leagues.

I’m curious how in the world these guys don’t get into trouble over the laws on internet gambling. I can understand and respect that a normal, season-long fantasy league has enough of a skill component to steer clear of these laws, but when we’re basically talking about Any Given Sunday, it seems like the random chance would overwhelm any skill involved.

Am I missing something here? Why aren’t the Feds shutting these guys down?