FanDuel spokeswoman Justine Sacco and DraftKings spokeswoman Sabrina Macias didn’t immediately respond to e-mails seeking comment. For now, the question is whether DraftKings and FanDuel can weather the storm and entice their fans to continue participating in their contests until a resolution is ultimately achieved. The NYAG claims that the “entrance fee” is not returned in the event of a loss and because the statute only requires “something of value”, not requiring that it be classified as a “bet or wager” the “entrance fee” is sufficient to establish gambling.
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FanDuel stopped offering daily fantasy sports contests last month after Schneiderman opened legal proceedings against the company.
A NY appeals court on Friday suspended an order that would have forced two fantasy sports websites to suspend operations in the state, a lawyer said. It’s created to provide a balance of protections for fantasy sports players in IL.
The decision in NY could influence Harris to take action before the state assembly can gather to discuss future legislation. “I would say, more likely than not, that unless there is something in FanDuel’s and DraftKing’s arsenal that we have yet to see, they have a big worry”.
Eric Schneiderman has called the games illegal gambling based on chance, not skill. A NY appellate judge granted them that stay Friday afternoon, allowing the companies to operate in NY until at least the first week of January.
“We have been monitoring the ongoing legal developments closely and in light of the court’s ruling we are working with our merchants to stop processing transactions related to the daily fantasy sports category in New York State”, PayPal said, in a statement.
Schneiderman is trying to permanently bar the companies from operating in NY.
In a statement, DraftKings counsel David Boies said, “We are disappointed with the Court’s decision and will immediately file an emergency notice of appeal in order to preserve the status quo”.
Comcast and Time Warner own stakes in FanDuel and 21Century Fox is an investor in DraftKings. Together, both startup companies dominated the daily fantasy sports market, but they didn’t seem to get on the radar of prosecutors and lawmakers until this year, when they started to heavily advertise on television near the start of the National Football League season. But in his decision, the judge says that Schneiderman has a better chance of winning than the fantasy sites do.
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Schneiderman had argued that the sites were placing bets labeled as “entrance fees” to make it seem like it wasn’t gambling.
