HONOLULU (KHON2) -- Online fantasy sports are incredibly popular. Research from the Fantasy Sports & Gaming Association shows 50.4 million Americans over 18 were playing in 2022. Interest is continuing to grow. It's become a multi-billion dollar industry that Sen. Angus McKelvey is hoping the state can benefit from with a new bill (SB373) that would allow daily fantasy sports contests. Get Hawaii's latest morning news delivered to your inbox, sign up for News 2 You "It creates a legal structure for daily fantasy in Hawaii," McKelvey explained. "It sets up a way for the entities that are doing the activity to be regulated and most importantly creates a mechanism to collect revenue from the activity." Molokai volleyball team ships it to Oahu amid Mokulele grounding Revenue and taxes, he said, could help fund Lahaina community recovery efforts, Hawaii schools and other state necessities. McKelvey has tried and failed to get a similar bill passed in previous legislative sessions. "I think a lot of people look at it as a sports book, they look at it as gambling but its not," he said. Gambling is an activity based on chance. But he said daily fantasy sports require skill. "Because of that it should be treated like other skills-based activities," he said. Fantasy Football fanatic Doug Sattler said he thinks that is a brilliant idea. "Online fantasy football sports sites are through the roof. They've never been more popular," he explained. Sattler has run Fantasy Football Hawaii since 1994. He said his league adheres to current laws and wouldn't be impacted by the new bill. "I think that if the state can generate some revenue off of that, then I'm completely behind it," Sattler said. Wailele Sallas, a former KHON2 sports reporter who now works as a fantasy football content creator on the mainland, said fantasy sports can bring people together and provide positive experiences. "I definitely feel like fantasy football, if done correctly, can be a great boon for cities," Sallas explained. "If they find a way to regulate it and use that to benefit the local government, local economy, and in some areas, charitable services." McKelvey is hoping Hawaii will align with the 45 other states that already allow online daily fantasy sports contests. "It doesn't do anything to usurp the gambling laws against what is considered to be gambling by all states and it does not allow sports book," McKelvey added. "It's daily fantasy." Find more Hawaii, Oahu, Maui and Kauai news here SB373 passed its first reading on Wednesday. KHON2 will continue to follow the bills progress.