DraftKings called the cease and desist letters from ny Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on Tuesday “hasty and uninformed” and said it was prepared to mount a legal challenge so the company could continue operating in the state.
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In a statement issued by FanDuel said, “Fantasy sports is a game of skill and legal under ny state law”.
Draft Kings sent emails to the contestants saying, “Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is considering preventing New Yorkers from playing daily fantasy sports”, and added this message to their website: “Hey, New York, protect your right to keep playing daily fantasy sports”. During the recent siege of growth in the business, the sites have argued, vehemently, that the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act of 2006 isn’t applicable to them since they offer a game that requires “more skill than luck”.
“We will pursue this fight to the fullest to ensure that NY fantasy sports fans do not need to stop playing”, DraftKings said in a statement on Wednesday. The attorney general claims that the games of the two flourishing online entities constitute “illegal gambling under state law”. “I think if people want to gamble at their own risk and own peril then I don’t think the government should control it”.
Last month IL state Rep. Mike Zalewski introduced legislation to regulate daily fantasy sports by applying a stricter definition to the industry.
The tussle comes as daily fantasy sports fans are set to kick off the DFS [Daily Fantasy Sports] Players Conference on Thursday in NY City.
The confrontation between Schneiderman and the two leading daily fantasy operators has quickly taken an ugly and combative turn. Regulators in Nevada ordered FanDuel and DraftKings to quit taking bets from residents there until they secure casino licenses.
DailyMVP’s offerings and advertisements aren’t necessarily the same, Geller said in an email, but it will comply with Schneiderman’s broad order “until there is more clarity and/or a reversal of the AG’s position”. FanDuel and DraftKings basically saturated the market to the point of ad nauseam.
Joshua Adler, a filmmaker from Rockland County, said that he plays the fantasy apps “pretty much daily” and the move by Schneiderman was “ridiculous”.
“There are a few states that have looked at regulating this but unfortunately NY state has not looked at regulating it yet and I know we’ll be going back to Albany and this is something we’ll be talking about”, said Kearns.
Both companies insisted that their games are legal and based on skill and said they were reviewing their legal options. DraftKings even sponsors to PATH train that connects New Jersey and NY. The lawsuits may end up redefining how daily fantasy sports are played in the future. He noted three elements to illegal gaming: consideration of money paid, a prize and a chance to win. Their endless ads boil down to the pitch that if you’re smart enough to watch sports, you should probably be making money betting on them. The best advocates are not the gaming sites but the sports leagues and media groups that are the investors and beneficiaries. Washington Redskins wide receiver Pierre Garcón filed class-action suit on behalf of all NFL players against the fantasy football site FanDuel for improperly exploiting the players’ popularity and performance.
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Grandmont says the latest attack on daily fantasy sports is troubling. In October, Schneiderman opened an investigation into the companies’ dealings in-state.
