HBO’s John Oliver Attacks Daily Fantasy Sports

After squaring off with New York’s attorney general on Monday, daily fantasy sports company DraftKings said it would continue to let New Yorkers play.

While I do not have a strong opinion on the FanDuel/DraftKings controversy, I read with interest The Denver Post’s opinion on the NY attorney general’s opposition to fantasy sports betting. The Boston-based company said it is confident in its legal position. Schneiderman’s office also did not have an immediate comment on the motion. Based on closer inspection of the actual developments, it’s clear that a TRO wasn’t needed, because Schneiderman has promised to take no action against the companies pending the hearing. Boies says Schneiderman withheld that information so that DraftKings couldn’t challenge his action in court before it was announced.

On sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, players pay a fee to enter their rosters in a pool along with hundreds or even thousands of others, all vying for a piece of jackpots that can grow to millions of dollars. Indeed, the denial from Schneiderman’s AG office leaves open the possibility that New York’s AG may file an injunction against the two leading DFS sites as soon as tomorrow… or, then again, maybe not.

DraftKings and FanDuel say they support developing US regulations for their industry, which grew out of traditional, season-long fantasy sports games played by millions of Americans.

“DraftKings and FanDuel are operating illegal gambling operations”, said Matt Mittenthal, spokesman for Schneiderman. And one exception carved out “participation in any fantasy or simulation sports game or educational game or contest”.

FanDuel generated revenue of $57.3m for the full year 2014, more than four times the $14.2m generated the previous year, while DraftKings ‘ annual revenue ascended from $4m to $30m for the same period.

But Schneiderman’s thundering allegations that the sites engage in illegal gambling is a bit rich – given how the “gaming” world has fattened his campaign coffers.

“The end-game for these daily fantasy sports companies is to bring in full-scale Internet gambling, which means to bring casino and lottery retailers into every bedroom and smartphone in the community”, he explains.