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TheParksideGroup,LLC
McLaughlin&Associates
April24,2017
FantasySportsSurveyFindings
AttherequestoftheTexasFantasySportsAlliance,weconductedapolltosurvey
attitudesofTexasvotersaboutonlinefantasysportsandpendinglegislationinAustintoclarify
thelegalityofthesecontests.Keyfindingsofthissurveyinclude:
ByA7-1Margin,TexansWantOnlineFantasySportsLegal&Regulated,NotBannedInTexas.
Whenofferedtwochoices:shouldadultsbeallowedtoparticipateinonlinefantasy
sportssites,withthosesitesregulatedtoprotectconsumers,orshoulditbeillegalforadultsto
participateinonlinefantasysportssites,81.3%ofTexasvoterssupportmakingonlinefantasy
sportssiteslegalandregulatedinthestate,comparedto11.7%whobelievethatitshouldbe
illegalforadultstoparticipateinthosesites.Morethan70%ofeveryincome,party,geography,
ethnicity,age,andgendergroupsupportadultsinTexasbeingabletoparticipateinonline
fantasysportssites.StronglysupportivegroupsincludeRepublicanPrimaryvoters(81.1%
support),EvangelicalChristians(78.9%support),IndependentMen(87.9%support),West
Texas(85.0%support),TarrantCounty(89.5%support),RepublicanMen(86.2%support),and
thosewithhouseholdincomesgreaterthan$100,000peryear(89.5%support).
TexansSupportSensibleRegulationofOnlineFantasySports
Byanearlythan3-1margin,TexanssupporteffortsintheTexasLegislaturetoregulate
onlinefantasysports(69.1%favor/23.2%oppose).Amajorityofeveryincome,party,
geography,ethnicity,age,andgendergroupsupportsregulatingonlinefantasysports.
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LegislativeeffortswerestronglysupportedbyEvangelicalChristians(66.2%support)and
RepublicanPrimaryvoters(69%support).SpecificproposalssupportedbyTexansinclude:
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Requireonlinefantasysportscompaniestoimplementonlinesecuritytoprotect
participants’financialinformationandensureconfidentiality—89.0%support
Requireonlinefantasysportscompaniestokeepcustomerfundssecure—86.2%
support
Requireonlinefantasysportscompaniestoimplementstandardstoensureparticipants
areovertheageof18andmeetothereligibilityrequirements—85.4%support
Limitingfantasysportsconteststoprofessionalsportsonlyandprohibitingfantasy
sportscontestsoncollege,highschool,oramateursports—61.6%support
ManyFantasySportsPlayersWillHoldLawmakersAccountableForTheirVotes
Amongthosevoterswhohaveplayedonlinefantasysports42%wouldbelesslikelyto
voteforastatelegislatorwhowantstomakeitillegaltoparticipateinonlinefantasysports
contestsinTexas,whilejust6.1%saiditwouldmakethemmorelikelytovoteforsomeone(the
remainderofthosewhohaveplayedonlinefantasysportseitherhadnoopinionorsaidthatit
wouldhavenoeffectontheirvote).AmongTexanswhodonotplayfantasysports,nearly64%
saidthatalegislator’spositionwouldhavenoeffectontheirvote,22.4%saidthattheywould
belesslikelytosupportalegislatorwhowantedtomakefantasysportsillegalinTexasand
10.8%wouldbemorelikelytosupportsuchalegislator.Accordingtoindustryestimates,outof
theapproximately19.3MillionTexansovertheageof18,thereareapproximately4.5Million
adultswhohaveplayedfantasysports,ofwhommorethan1.2Millionhavebeenmatchedto
thevoterfilethroughpredictivemodelingconductedbyWPAIntelligence.
Anoteaboutmethodology
ThepollwasconductedinEnglishandSpanishfromApril17-20,2017among1,000
Texasvoters,withanadditionaloversampleofRepublicanPrimaryvoters.Halfofallresponses
werereceivedfromvotersoverlandlinesandhalfweredoneoncellphones.Atthe95%
confidencelevel,theoverallmarginoferrorintheoverallsurveyis3.1%.Forthesampleof742
RepublicanPrimaryvoters,themarginoferroris3.6%atthe95%confidencelevel.Among
RepublicanPrimaryvoters,52%oftheinterviewswereconductedoverlandlinesand48%on
cellphones.Themarginoferrorishigheramongsub-groups.Thissurveywasdrawnfroma
sampleofTexasregisteredvoters.
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AboutTheParksideGroup
TheParksideGrouphasbeenprovidingelectoral,corporate,andadvocacyclientswith
publicrelations,publicaffairs,governmentrelations,campaignmanagement,quantitative
researchandadvertisingservicesformorethan15years.Wehaveplayedakeyroleinthe
electionofmorethan100publicofficialsandprovidesurveyresearchservicestocorporations,
tradeassociations,advocacygroups,partycommittees,andcandidates.
AboutMcLaughlin&Associates
McLaughlin&Associatesisanationalsurveyresearchandstrategicservicescompany
whosepersonnelhaveplayedakeyroleinassistingsuccessfulorganizationsintheUnited
States,Canada,Europe,AsiaandLatinAmerica.Wespecializeinpublicopinionresearch,media
planningandbuyingservices,andstrategicconsultingservices.