The NY State attorney general ordered the two largest daily fantasy sports companies, FanDuel and DraftKings, to stop accepting bets in NY on Tuesday.
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He drew a sharp distinction between the operations of daily fantasy sports sites and traditional fantasy leagues, which he said remained legal.
Since the ruling from Schneiderman, FanDuel and DraftKings have both tweeted out petitions to preserve their players’ rights in NY.
Schneiderman added that the contests are “neither harmless nor victimless”.
The sites have come under increased scrutiny since it was revealed last month that a midlevel DraftKings employee playing fantasy football beat more than 200,000 other players, winning $350,000 on rival FanDuel.
“We strongly disagree with the reasoning in his opinion and will examine and vigorously pursue all legal options available to ensure our over half a million customers in NY state can continue to play”, the spokesperson said. The two companies then banned their employees from playing, but local and federal authorities began to investigate whether the fantasy sites offered games of chance, which were essentially gambling. He said the company’s online games constitute illegal gambling under NY law, according to the NY Times.
DraftKings estimated that 56 million people in the United States played fantasy sports.
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This case is being handled by Assistant Attorney General Justin Wagner, Assistant Attorney General Jordan Salberg, Assistant Attorney General Aaron Chase, Senior Enforcement Counsel and Special Advisor to the Attorney General Tim Wu, Internet Bureau Chief Kathleen McGee, Senior Advisor and Special Counsel Simon Brandler, and Executive Deputy Attorney General for Economic Justice Karla Sanchez.
