Steiner was filed in Pinellas-Pasco circuit court Monday against DraftKings and FanDuel, two companies that are leaders in the multi-billion-dollar fantasy sports industry. A smaller operator, DraftPot, announced Tuesday that it would remain operating in NY, tweeting the hashtag #FantasyForAll alongside a link to Jay Z’s song “Empire State of Mind”.
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People with knowledge of the Vantiv letter told the Globe that both DraftKings and FanDuel received the request, but said the vendor later relented and agreed to continue processing payments after talks with the companies.
Four other USA states ban all fantasy sports, including seasonal games run by ESPN, CBS and Yahoo.
On Tuesday, Kathleen McGee, the chief of Schneiderman’s Internet Bureau, sent letters to executives of DraftKings and FanDuel ordering them to cease and desist taking business from NY residents. As a result, the past few weeks has seen a number of states instigate their own investigations into the legality of the industry, including NY, which has now concluded that DFS betting is against the law.
And the latest statement from Healey’s office also reflects the change in language, using the word gambling in reference to what the consumer protection aims are.
“I expect they’re going to be more bumps in the road”, Eccles said.
But critics claim that unlike “traditional” fantasy sports, which are seasonal, daily games are based on luck and “designed for instant gratification”, which makes it a form of illegal sports betting. Whoever conducts, finances, manages, owns or partly owns such a business can be fined or imprisoned for up to five years. Another option would be to bring criminal charges, though the attorney general hasn’t threatened that type of action. “It’s gambling. No matter how you look at it, no matter how you sum it up, it’s still gambling and it should be banned”, he said.
“We believe this was a hasty and uninformed decision by the NY Attorney General”. In Florida and Arizona, it’s illegal to wager on contests of chance or skill.
Schneiderman nailed this issue like a chip-shot field goal, and other attorneys general are expected to follow his lead. National Football League players are allowed to play, but can not win more than $250 in prizes over the course of a year, according to the NFL’s player policy.
Eccles conceded that the widespread advertising campaign “definitely” put the company on everyone’s radar.
Grandmont: “I think there’s skill involved”.
“We continue to monitor reports concerning daily fantasy sports”, National Basketball Association spokesman David Bass said. Lawmakers around the country expect the fantasy sports industry to make a push for clear legalization.
Both DraftKings and FanDuel said what they do is legal, and the contests are games of skill because players have to have knowledge about sports to pick a roster of players that will win. “The player doesn’t know anything about these things” he said.
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“None of us was really surprised by the Attorney General’s conclusion”, he continued. “After the attorney general realized he could now get himself some press coverage, he decided a game that has been around for a long, long time is suddenly now not legal”. But they may also legally fight the decision in NY, a state where one of them is headquartered and both have a major presence.
