Former casino executive J.T. Foley has joined the Coalition for Fantasy Sports

In April 2007, J.T Foley joined the Las Vegas Sands. Foley spent 17 years with the company and climbed his way through the ranks. In 2014, he was named the executive director for LAs Vegas Sands. Recently, Foley has left the industry operator and is about to take on a new challenge. The Coalition for Fantasy Sports has named J.T. Foley their new executive director He’s the first person in Coalition for Fantasy Sports to hold that title. 

The Coalition for Fantasy Sports is trying to argue to state lawmakers that their DFS games should be considered traditional gambling. In DFS, the pick’em product is the one that gets argued about the most. On Tuesday, J.T. Foley said the Coalition will work with Betr, Dabble, PrizePicks, and Underdog Fantasy to craft legislation around those games. Foley had this to say in a press release.

“I’m thrilled to join the Coalition for Fantasy Sports,” said Foley. “We will work with member companies to create the laws we need to grow this industry. Our member companies are leading on consumer protections and eager to share what we know with emerging DFS providers so that we can establish and preserve a safe and legal ecosystem.”

Why are state lawmakers against DFS games?

Florida and New York are just two of a dozen states that have implemented rules to ban DFS games. Their efforts to ban DFS games have been happening for over a year. Pick’Em games became available in select states due to regulatory collaboration. That gave way to free-to-play or peer-to-peer versions. However, efforts to clear a paid version of DFS games have mostly failed. Now, the Coalition for Fantasy Sports will focus on legislative advocacy. PrizePicks is one of the operators that work with the Coalition. Their attorney Derek Schmidt had this to say.

“It makes a lot more sense to work with regulators, as you can, to help them do their job and point to what’s been done in other states, but really, it’s going to be legislatures sooner or later that make this decision,” - said Derek Schmidt at the SBC Summit in North America

J.T. Foley brings deep lobbying experience to the Coalition

Before joining the Coalition for Fantasy Sports, J.T., Foley was at Las Vegas Sands for 17 years. He oversaw their political advocacies, lobbying, and government relations. Foley did this across multiple jurisdictions at the international, federal, state, and local levels. In a press release from the Coalition, Foley noted he will work to promote responsible play policies along with enhancing consumer protections for the Fantasy Sports industry.