DraftKings and FanDuel has argued that daily fantasy sports were games of skill, not chance.
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DraftKings and FanDuel can continue doing business in NY for now, after an appeals court halted a judge’s order that blocked daily fantasy games in the state.
Former NBA commissioner David Stern called the legal probing of daily fantasy sports nonsense during his appearance Thursday at the Sports Business Journal Intercollegiate Athletics Forum in NY.
The New York Times reported Friday morning that a key issue facing the judge there was whether the competitions are games of chance or games of skill.
Both the attorneys of FanDuel and Draftkings are planning on appealing this decision.as Both companies will seek to drum up enough evidence in order to deny the motion for injunction.
This decision comes a day after both companies expressed their support for Massachusetts’ approach to regulating daily fantasy sports, and as other states have considered their own rules.
Estimates vary but some web analytics have put internet traffic at the FanDuel and DraftKings websites at over 50 million and 30 million visits each month respectively. The two companies have a multibillion dollar industry, so the fantasy sports shutdown means they will be losing much of their income.
As of a few minutes ago, we were still able to set up a DraftKings account with a NY address.
The ruling Friday will be followed by the appeals by the companies, as well as the discovery process as the case gets a further review by Mendez. He pointed out that the sites can continue to operate in other states.
Mendez upheld an order by New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman demanding the sites stop operating the state.
Schneiderman first went after daily fantasy sports leagues in October, launching an investigation into whether the companies committed fraud after a DraftKings employee named Ethan Haskell inadvertently admitted that he had bet on FanDuel using insider information on NFL lineups before they had been publicly posted.
Meanwhile, Congressman Chris Collins – a critic of Schneiderman’s effort to bar such games in New York State – expressed his disappointment in the judge’s decision.
In New York, State Assembly Racing and Wagering Committee Chairman J. Gary Pretlow predicted this week that the state will ultimately legalize and regulate daily fantasy sports, regardless how the court fight turns out.
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This has enabled fans to spend money on the games with a frequency that critics say is akin to sports betting. Chances are, we are heading for a drawn-out trial that will determine the legality of daily fantasy sports. “I have said from the beginning that my job is to enforce the law and that is what happened today”, he said.
