Mass AG Says Daily Fantasy Is Gambling

“Because of the daily nature of daily fantasy sports, I think there are sufficient questions to allow the attorney general to reach the conclusion that it’s purely a game a chance”, said McLaughlin, now a partner with the Hodgson Russ law firm.

In a pair of letters sent to the companies, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said that after a one-month investigation, his office had concluded that the daily contests are essentially games of chance, not skill.

Zwillinger, a former U.S. Justice Department official and touted as a “foremost expert on internet security law”, called Schneiderman’s legal analysis was flawed.

“New Yorkers can certainly play on FanDuel”, Eccles said Wednesday afternoon. “I think if people want to gamble at their own risk and own peril then I don’t think the government should control it”. It does not prohibit either company from operating their businesses in NY.

“Given the NY attorney general’s historic role as a consumer-protection advocate, legal experts said the action was likely to reverberate in other states where legislators and investigators are increasingly questioning whether the industry should operate unfettered by regulations that govern legalized gambling”, The NY Times reported.

“The material element test is the trickiest”, said Marc Edelman, an associate professor of law at New York’s Baruch College and an expert on gaming law.

Now, Sen. Joe Negron and Rep. Matt Gaetz are filing a bill saying the fantasy game isn’t gambling.

Tuesday’s news out of Albany didn’t make its way to Wisconsin for the fifth Republican debate, the eight contenders focusing on the economy, immigration, and national security and opting to steer clear of less dire issues like daily fantasy sports. It said the company would “vigorously pursue all legal options available to ensure our over half a million customers in NY state can continue to play the fantasy sports games they love”.

Eccles said his business is doing “extremely well” and hasn’t seen a decline in players in the wake of the cease and desist letter. Chance is obviously a significant factor in sports, determining whether a player gets injured or has a bad day, whether referees miss an important call that affects players stats or simply how the ball bounces.

The companies have come under heavy scrutiny recently following concerns of insider trading, after a midlevel DraftKings employee playing on rival FanDuel beat more than 200,000 other players to win $350,000. “It truly is putting your money on the table and gambling it away”, said Daniel Theal of Buffalo.

On Tuesday night, Congressman Chris Collins released a statement reading, “New York’s attorney general once again proved that he is singularly focused on grabbing newspaper headlines”. Schneiderman’s cease-and-desist orders so far apply only to the taking of wagers from NY residents. The NFL has attempted to keep the companies at arm’s length, but multiple team owners are heavily invested in both companies, and the league’s network partners draw massive advertising dollars from both of the daily fantasy titans.

DraftKings hired Morgan, Lewis and Bockius and reported spending $10,000 for the quarter, the company said in its lobbying disclosure filing.

The companies have five days to try to persuade Schneiderman that their operations are lawful. “Regulators and others might still try to change the rules in a way that makes it impossible to continue with my business model”.

In the advent of football season, many fans participate in fantasy football in hopes of winning a few money or earning bragging rights over their friends. The Fantasy Sports Trade Association, an industry lobby group, says 61 percent of players admit watching more live sports because of fantasy play.