Will regulators fumble fantasy sports away this Super Bowl Sunday?

The Federal Trade Commission in 2017 challenged a proposed merger between DraftKings and FanDuel, the two largest providers of fantasy sports contests. Regulators argued that the merger would reduce consumer competition, limit choices, and violate antitrust laws by granting a near-monopoly to one corporate behemoth.

Although that merger never moved forward, those same two companies now appear to be behaving as an anti-competitive duopoly — and their coordinated efforts could jeopardize the integrity of the fantasy sports industry that the American people have come to know and love.

Limiting competition and choice in such a popular industry would be a major fumble — one that 50 million Americans who play fantasy sports games will not soon forget.

Fantasy sports have grown by leaps and bounds over the last decade. Over 50 million Americans now enjoy playing fantasy games, and the increase in players has allowed other companies to enter the market with their own versions of fantasy games. However, in a story as old as time, the two largest companies in the market, DraftKings and FanDuel, are now using their market power to stifle their upstart competitors.

The Sports Betting Alliance, which represents DraftKings and FanDuel, is lobbying state officials to categorize their new competitors’ games as forms of unlicensed (and thus illegal) online gambling. They argue that their rivals’ games represent luck-driven gambling, not games of the fantasy variety — skill-based contests won through knowledge of sports history and statistics.

These arguments are simply not true.

Not much separates DraftKings’ and FanDuel’s fantasy games from those of their rivals. DraftKings and FanDuel allow consumers to build a team based on the expected performances of the players in real-life games. Their marketplace competitors’ games are more focused on the individual performances of the players participants select. It’s a distinction without a difference.

Nevertheless, some states have still responded to the lobbying solicitations they have received from the Sports Betting Alliance by sending cease-and-desist letters or otherwise heavily scrutinizing these new, popular fantasy sports companies.

Market economies are most successful when competition can flourish. It keeps prices down and improves the quality and selection of goods and services available to consumers. It also fosters innovation and efficiency, leading to better choices and enhanced customer experiences. Muscling highly popular upstart fantasy sports companies out of the marketplace would do the opposite. That is in no one’s interest but their competitors.

In the movie “Tucker: The Man and His Dream,” innovator Preston Tucker attempted to market an innovative new car for Americans, but the three largest automakers successfully used their lobbying power to destroy his operations. In doing so, not only did they put Tucker out of business, but they also stifled adoption of many of his ideas, from seatbelts and fuel injection to disc brakes, for many years to come. A similar scenario will inevitably play out in the fantasy sports industry if regulators continue moving forward with DraftKings and FanDuel’s regulatory agendas.

February should represent Super Bowl season, not corporate welfare season. Regulators and those in charge of protecting marketplace competition should not allow a couple of established fantasy sports corporations to twist interpretations of the law to their benefit.

Limiting competition and consumer choice in such a popular industry would be a major fumble — one that the 50 million Americans who play fantasy sports games will not soon forget. Here’s hoping federal and state decision-makers are listening.