Fantasy Congress Sports
If you’re a political junkie, you might be interested in playing fantasy Congress sports. If you’re a nerd, you may be interested in a game that pits politicians against each other in a daily fantasy league. The political nerd in you may find it interesting to compare the votes of Senators and Representatives in a game of daily fantasy sports.
Political nerds
Fantasy Congress isn’t a traditional game; it’s a way to learn about politics in a fun, interactive way. The information, while not always easily accessible, is interesting and engaging enough to keep people coming back for more. Since the 2004 presidential election, the political gaming industry has flourished. Games pit Sen. John Kerry against President Bush in a virtual matchup, but they never made it to the mainstream audience.
The creator of Fantasy Congress, a Chicago resident, is hoping to bring the legislative process to a new audience. He has already found a small fan base among teachers of government and civics. However, he hasn’t yet been to Washington or worked on Capitol Hill, so he can’t say for sure how the game will go over.
Players pick a team of lawmakers and earn points for passing bills. They can also earn points for floor speeches and member sponsors of new legislation.
Political junkies
In a similar vein to the online fantasy sports leagues that have been popular for decades, Fantasy Congress matches players with legislators and allows them to score points when their bills make it through Congress. Currently, the game is only three weeks old, but the team behind it includes two college students and a civics teacher.
To play the game, users create an account and join a league, then create a team and draft real U.S. Congressmen. Players can earn points by having a team of lawmakers with different political views and approaches to pushing bills. The goal is to build the strongest team, but players must be careful not to get too attached to any one member because each one is different.
Fantasy Congress is similar to the popular fantasy sports, but is geared more toward political junkies. The players draft their senators and representatives and then compete against each other to gain the most points. Teams earn points throughout the legislative process, gaining 50 points if their bill becomes law.
Legislators
In fantasy Congress sports, it’s possible to create a team that features only Legislators. Legislators earn points based on their performance in real life, and as bills are passed and amended, they earn points as well. Each week’s slate of legislators counts toward the team’s total points. If the Legislator A votes ten times in Week 1, for example, he would earn 20 points.
In the game, players select a team of Senate and House members and compete against each other to win points. They earn points for floor speeches, sponsoring new bills, and passing bills in both the House and Senate. The players who get the most points will win, and lose if they don’t.
Legislators in fantasy Congress sports start by drafting a team of six legislators. Throughout the week, the members of Congress score points based on their activities in Congress. Bills introduced by legislators will earn points for their teams, and they can earn bonus points when they have bipartisan support.
Daily fantasy sports
The daily fantasy sports industry is faced with a long list of consumer protection issues. These include concerns about stacking and addiction, false advertising, and lack of age verification. However, despite these concerns, the industry continues to grow. A number of companies, including DraftKings, are making significant investments in their respective daily fantasy sports brands.
Representative Frank Pallone, a Democrat from New Jersey, is a member of the committee, and requested a hearing on daily fantasy sports. This came as the sites DraftKings and FanDuel came under fire for allowing their employees to compete in cash games on other sites. Pallone then sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission, demanding that the industry comply with the federal prohibition on gambling.
Currently, there are many different states that regulate daily fantasy sports, and some of them are more stringent than federal regulations. Congress could clarify the areas where daily fantasy sports operators are required to report consumer information. In addition, the Securities Act of 1933 set standards for how daily fantasy sports companies report information, moving away from the caveat emptor mentality that plagued the industry.