The NY Lawsuit Against Daily Fantasy League Play Heats Up
New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman took legal action against DraftKings and FanDuel. The New York Times published the AG’s cease and desist letter sent to the daily fantasy leagues on November 10. DraftKings and FanDuel can’t sign any new entries in New York anymore. Schneiderman found daily fantasy leagues are unregulated gambling under state laws. The letter could be the first step in a larger lawsuit about the operation of a daily fantasy league in NY. Schneiderman told the Times: “It is clear that DraftKings and FanDuel are the leaders of a massive, multibillion-dollar scheme. The scheme is intended to evade the law, and fleece sports fans across the country. Not in New York, and not on my watch.”
Protesters in #NYC after attorney general Eric Schneiderman shuts down @FanDuel for #gambling #freespeech #friday pic.twitter.com/IoVJWKTzBU
— Lenny Izzo (@LennyIzzo) November 13, 2015
Daily Leagues Fight Back
In contrast, FanDuel and DraftKings struck back on Friday. The leagues countersued New York and are seeking an injunction as soon as possible. As reported by TechCrunch, DraftKing said, “Today, we have taken decisive legal action to prevent a unilateral, misinformed and legally misguided attempt by the New York Attorney General to act as “judge, jury and executioner” for daily fantasy sports in New York. We are asking the New York Supreme Court to rule that the Attorney General’s cease-and-desist letter is unconstitutional, an abuse of discretion, and simply wrong. We are confident in our legal position and intend to continue to fight to preserve the right of the over 500,000 New York consumers to play the fantasy sports games they love.” – DraftKings
The Bottom Line About a Daily Fantasy League
In the final analysis, there’s is too much a good thing. Daily fantasy leagues are on borrowed time. As the daily leagues were currently operating, they were generating too much profit. When you take in that much money, unregulated, the “powers that be” will move in. There are two sides to this fight. On the one hand, DraftKings and FanDuel could generate much-needed tax revenue for the Empire State. If they were regulated. But to some of the fans of daily fantasy leagues that feeling you were doing something illegal was part of their appeal. F&TS agrees with Craig Carton of WFAN who has stated on-air that daily leagues should switch to an online currency. In conclusion, the daily leagues could operate legally land a whole new generation of degenerate gamblers. Everyone can win.