States, Feds and Fans Turn Up the Heat on DraftKings and FanDuel

The NCAA said its advertising policy for broadcasters “has a longstanding section that states we will not accept advertising from sports wagering entities”. (DraftKings is based in Boston). The Illinois Gaming Board says the games are under review; last week state officials told The Associated Press that Internet fantasy sports are probably illegal because games of chance and skill on the Internet are not allowed. “But I don’t think you can debate the proposition that daily fantasy sports betting needs to be regulated”, said Joe Asher, chief executive of the United States of America operations for sports betting company William Hill. But the New York-based company said it doesn’t want to rely only on what it knows right now and wants to rebuild trust with its players. They are created to be won by those skilled enough to win them…That suggests success in fantasy sports is more about understanding math than understanding sports.

Team marketing deals have been an integral part of both companies’ efforts to raise their profiles and attract new customers this football season. The contest began at 1:00pm that day, at which point all lineups were locked and could not be changed, even though not all National Football League games had started yet (some contests on a few sites allow players to be swapped in and out of lineups if their team’s games have yet to begin, but apparently this is not the case with this specific contest). At Gillette Stadium in Foxborough and in the home arenas of the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs, fans eat and drink – and track fantasy stats on big-screen TVs – in DraftKings-branded sports bars.

Besides Florida, other states taking a hard look at the fantasy industry include Illinois (home of the Chicago Bears), Michigan (Detroit Lions) and Georgia (Atlanta Falcons). The Lions and Falcons did not respond to Globe inquiries.

Though it has close ties to the industry, the NFL alone among the four major sports leagues in North America has refrained from making investments in fantasy sports companies.

“As Mark Emmert, Donald Remy and I explained to you in our August. 31, 2015 meeting, we believe that your product should not be offered in the college space for a variety of reasons”, Lewis wrote, referring to the NCAA president and its top attorney.

As first reported by the New York Times on Tuesday night and according to a letter obtained by ESPN on Wednesday morning, the NCAA barred the daily fantasy operators from television broadcasts during championship events.

“It certainly doesn’t seem the right tone”, Sankey said.

“It was our view that we’re much better off inside the tent than outside the tent and understanding exactly what’s going on with these businesses and being able to take knowledgeable positions in terms of how these business can become more transparent and ultimately develop a regulatory framework that makes sense for consumers”, he said.