DFS companies argue in court games are of skill, not chance

Across the country, state officials are grappling with how to regulate this industry-in-a-cloud.

“The owner is putting the team together, and the team is performing”, Mastro said, likening the experiencing of the horse owner to a fantasy player.

Fantasy-sports winnings of any size are considered taxable income, and if you have a net profit of more than $600 for the year, DraftKings and FanDuel-and other fantasy-sports sites or organizers-must issue a 1099-MISC tax form to both you and the IRS. “There is no question that Draft Kings and FanDuel are going to have a much better chance of dealing with potential regulations”.

For many unicorns, the question mark hanging over their futures is whether public markets will value them as highly as the private backers who have sent their valuations past $1 billion. He declined to name the parties.

He said the judge couldn’t grant that injunction because such moves – injunctive relief – are based on preserving the status quo, not changing it, as he alleged the attorney general’s office was doing by suddenly calling daily fantasy sports illegal after four years operating in the state. But the companies contend they are games of skill, with some players relying heavily on statistics and projections to win.

“Fine, you have that skill” to pick a roster of players based on their abilities and track records, Mendez conceded, reiterating the two gaming sites’ arguments as he engaged a lawyer for FanDuel. Schneiderman says the sites are digital bookies. In fact, he said, the supercharged daily version requires more skill.

For SinglePoint, acquisitions will not only provide scale but also give investors liquidity at a time of uncertainty. “They may have succeeded in persuading this judge”, Wallach said.

Unlike season-long fantasy sports, DraftKings and FanDuel allow players to construct a different lineup before each day’s slate of games and compete for daily prize money.

DraftKings and its main rival, FanDuel, are locked in a legal battle in NY. Regardless of the outcome here I think courts and states could still legalize it… They’re betting that a new way for regular folks to make money off the outcomes of sporting events isn’t just a good old-fashioned sports book remade for the app era.

Now only a handful of states have weighed in specifically on DFS.

Federal law banned Internet gambling in 2006 but created a waiver for fantasy sports.

The first week of this dispute does makes one thing very clear: Unlike prior disputes about the gambling provisions in New York’s Penal Code provisions, which typically involved small-time operations and local prosecution, the stakes in this case are monumental and there is no shortage of resources on either side.

Boies said it’s disingenuous to declare fantasy sports harmful when the state promotes casinos and the lottery. Las Vegas has asked that DFS operators apply for gaming licenses, which subsequently pushed the players out of the state. “All FanDuel and DraftKings offer is another way to bet on sports”, a lawyer with the attorney general’s office said at the hearing, according to Sports Business Journal. DraftKings, in contrast, continues to operate here because it successfully sought an injunction ordering payment processors to keep working with the company.