“The attorney general is entitled to change his mind”, Boies said. Search tags such as “weekly fantasy football betting”, “daily fantasy basketball betting” and “fantasy golf betting” were installed in the website’s programming code, ostensibly helping to draw customers looking for wagering action on those sports to DraftKings.com. The lawyer made this point repeatedly. The state has the ninth-largest population of fantasy sports players, according to a survey by Eilers Research.
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It’s unlikely that Schneiderman could win an injunction as soon as Wednesday, but if he does, DraftKings would consider an immediate appeal because a shutdown, even a short one, could “irreparably” damage its business, Boies said.
There were more revelations regarding DraftKings, a company whose CEO Jason Robins has vehemently maintained does not offer a gambling product, but instead a game of skill. They are described as passionate about sports, white collar, having high disposable income and “underserved by social and skill game developers”. An internal FanDuel memorandum sourced by the attorney general’s office illustrated the company’s encouragement of employees playing DFS on other platforms, but also revealed awareness of the risk this posed to the company’s image. “That only happens in games of skill where the player can not influence the outcome”.
In the Daily News piece, Schneiderman wrote: “That’s why more than 89 percent of one site’s players are losers, despite seemingly endless TV ads promising easy money”.
DraftKings and FanDuel reject Schneiderman’s that they promote gambling, arguing that competing in fantasy sports contests is a game of skill, not chance.
“FanDuel has been openly operating these contests in NY for nearly 8 years”, Boies said. The DFS companies have been in litigation to defend their businesses, which Schneiderman has said are illegal gambling in the state.
McKenna, who is serving as outside counsel for Draft Kings, FanDuel and the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, said that, with more than 40 million people across the country participating in a few way, “fantasy sports have become our new national pastime”. Nevada gaming authorities last month also ordered the firms to cease operations in the state until they obtain gambling licenses. “That issue is really a concession statement by the attorney general and is fatal to their case”, he said forcefully.
“I think they’re very common-sense protections that all would agree make a lot of sense in this new industry, so I’m expecting them to begin compliance today as the rule making process goes forward”, she said.
Yahoo Sports Daily Fantasy is available through a mobile app and allows users to compete in groups or individually by betting on a professional athlete’s performance.
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FanDuel and DraftKings would face regulations, but nothing that would endanger their businesses. Rounding out the top five are Florida with $20.6 million in fees ($2 million in revenue), IL with close to $19 million in fees ($1.9 million in revenue), and Texas with $17.2 million in fees ($1.7 million in revenue).
