Much has been written recently about the Iowa Legislature's progress toward "legalizing” fantasy sports competitions – just last week an Iowa Senate panel ok'ed the measure amending Iowa's definition of "Bona Fide Contests" (Section 99B.11) to include fantasy sports. Section 99B.11 provides that it is lawful to collect entry fees and award prizes on the specified bona fide contests.
But that may not be the only facelift Section 99B.11 gets this year. House Bill 165, introduced last week, would lead to a definition of "Bona Fide Contests" which would include eSports competitions. Presently the only form of video game competitions considered permitted contests under Section 99B.11 are "video machine golf tournaments." HB 165 would remove "golf" from the language and clarify that competitions involving video games controlled "by player-directed movement with a video or electronic gaming device" would be permitted.
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