Bill regulating fantasy sports a win
There’s current legislation in Georgia that would authorize and regulate fantasy sports, games that require players to use research and skill to put together a winning roster under a salary cap, just as a general manager for the Braves, Falcons or Hawks must do. Today, 1.5 million Georgians participate in these games.
The discussion tends to focus on the major players in the fantasy sports space – ESPN, CBS, DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo – but there is an entire ancillary industry that offers various products like research tools for fantasy players, data and analytics, commentary and more. Considering that fantasy sports is now a $20 billion a year industry, the potential is immeasurable. I founded one of these startup businesses right here in Atlanta, SidePrize.
States across the country are acting to regulate fantasy sports, add consumer protections and capture new tax revenue. Those states will have a major leg up in the race for businesses and job creation in a rapidly growing industry. Rep. Trey Kelley’s, R-Cedartown, bill would provide the proper safeguards. Let’s pass it into law and get to work on creating new jobs.
ADAM WEXLER, CEO OF SIDEPRIZE
Longer hours for docs sounds disastrous
I always find it interesting when two groups of seemingly rational people draw vastly different conclusions based on similar data.
In a recent AJC a headline shouts, “Cap to be lifted on 1st-year doctors’ hours.” It seems the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has determined that allowing first-year doctors to work up to 28 consecutive hours (up from 16) without sleep will “enhance patient safety” and “improve the new doctors’ training by allowing them to follow their patients for more extended periods.”
Turn the page and the headline reads, “New research proves time change is costly.” In this article about daylight savings time, researchers conclude “it can be dangerous to mess with sleep schedules. Car accidents, strokes and heart attacks spike in the days after the March time change. It turns out that judges, sleep deprived by daylight saving, impose harsher sentences.”
So who is correct? I’m putting my money on the latter. One could easily conclude that the rationalization justifying longer hours for doctors is financially motivated. Fatigued doctors making life-or-death decisions for their patients. Why not? What could possibly go wrong?
GREG BERRY, MARIETTA
Legislators thanked for protecting film industry
I’d like to thank Gov. Deal, Speaker Ralston and all of the visionary leaders in our state legislature who support the film industry and all the jobs it brings to Georgians. I’m the executive director of Women in Film & Television Atlanta, a SAG-AFTRA actor, a Georgia Production Partnership member and one of thousands of people whose livelihood is made possible because of the growth of the industry here.
Major studios and production companies bring their projects to shoot here and, in the process, employ entire crews of electricians, set design and construction, camera departments, lighting technicians, accountants, actors, and on and on. Along with creating opportunities on the production crew, they spend money on housing, food, transportation, and other local services. Last year, the money spent on almost 250 projects had a $7 billion impact on our local communities – I’m not a fancy mathematician, but I know that’s a win-win all the way around!
I appreciate the efforts of our legislators to protect this successful and productive industry.
SUSAN MOSS, WIFTA EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Pitts oversteps boundaries of decency
We’ve come to dread reading Leonard Pitts’ articles. I’m not sure we’ll continue to do so after his irrational rant about Ben Carson last week “Ben Carson learns sad truth,” Opinion, March 12. He oversteps his boundaries of decency when he compares Carson’s use of the word “immigrant” for slaves as analogous to a rape victim. Pitts fancies himself a master of the written word, so should know that the word “immigrant” refers to someone who comes from another country. It does not hold any other connotation. President Obama used the term in the same way, but no one criticized him. I think it comes down to class envy: Carson has class.
MEL MATUSZAK, DACULA
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