MA Attorney General to consider DFS regulation

“It would be a disaster for the company, its employees, its investors and it would unfair to the tens and thousands of its customers to simply shut it down because the attorney general has changed his mind on whether or not it’s legal, without taking his case to the court”. “He’s not entitled to unilaterally change the law”.

Schneiderman, responding to earlier comments and editorials from the companies, wrote in an op-ed in today’s NY Daily News, “FanDuel and DraftKings have made the argument, over and over – including yesterday in this paper – that they run “games of skill” and are therefore legal. There is only one victor at the end, and there are not any sub-matchups within the competition”, said Marc Edelman, an associate professor of law at the Zicklin School of Business of Baruch College. “They have been understood by everybody to be legal for the last eight years until 10 days ago”. NY law, however, states that activities that involve a “material element of chance” qualify as gambling. He’s introduced legislation that would pave the way for an exemption for daily fantasy sports which would make the game officially legal in IL. While both companies are fighting back, FanDuel chose to stop ny residents from entering any contests as the court battle continues. While most leagues still oppose traditional sports betting – the National Basketball Association is the notable exception- they have encouraged daily fantasy sports. They would also subject the companies to state false advertising regulations, bar them from including college athletes in their ads, and require that the ads include information to assist people with a gambling problem. Boies, however, said he would likely fight any decision that hurts DraftKings – and he could take the appeals process as far as it goes. On Monday, Mendez denied the companies’ request and set a hearing for Wednesday. The Nevada Gaming Control Board has already ruled that DFS companies must obtain sports book licenses if they want to operate in the state.

Modern fantasy sports started in 1980 and have mushroomed online.

Asked about an opinion piece authored by Schneiderman that was published in the NY Daily News, Boies replied that the attorney general pointed out “less than 11 percent of players repeatedly win all of the prizes”. Though he has previously said that anyone older than 18 should be permitted to play.

The suit, filed in Manhattan federal court on behalf of FanDuel and DraftKings players nationwide, accuses, Visa, MasterCard, American Express and other defendants of participating in a racketeering scheme to facilitate illegal gambling operations.

FanDuel, which is based in NY and which has temporarily ceased operation in the Empire State, also claims it is being treated unfairly. DraftKings, based in Boston, continues to take NY deposits.

“The purported FSTA board minutes are not a verbatim transcript, but rather the interpretation of a lengthy meeting by one non-lawyer reflecting what another non-lawyer said about a complex law”, the statement read.

“We’re in a time right now where students across this country are mired in debt and I have real concerns about anything that would exacerbate students taking on more debt in the form of credit extended to play daily fantasy sport games”, the attorney general said.