DFS Illegal Gambling According to New York

New York state attorney general labelled DFS illegal gambling and banned their operation.

Eric Schneiderman, New York state attorney general played the DFS illegal gambling card, banning daily fantasy sports sites in the state. The Empire State is the second important state in a row after Nevada to claim that daily fantasy sites operate illegal gambling businesses. Other states’ gambling legislations are reportedly also preparing to ban DFS sites, while DFS operators DraftKings and Fan Duel argue that their operations is legal according to US gambling laws.

Schneiderman: DFS illegal gambling

• DFS illegal gambling in seven states
• Operators arguing the decision
• Fantasy sports site has gambling connections

The state attorney general labelled DFS illegal gambling. He demanded the two biggest daily fantasy sites, FanDuel and DraftKings to stop accepting money from New York residents. Schneiderman thinks that DFS sites cause the exact same issues to the community as gambling does. He said, “[the DFS industry] appears to be creating the same public health and economic problems associated with gambling.”

His comments towards DraftKings and FanDuel and the whole daily fantasy business were anything but gentle. He said, “It is clear that DraftKings and FanDuel are the leaders of a massive, multibillion-dollar scheme intended to evade the law and fleece sports fans across the country. Today we have sent a clear message: not in New York, and not on my watch.”

New York is the seventh, but not the last state to claim DFS illegal gambling

The attorney general’s office also communicated, that “[ads on the two big DFS operators’ sites] seriously mislead New York citizens about their prospects of winning.” According to the state investigators, “The top 1 percent of DraftKings winners receive the vast majority of the winnings.” The state attorney general’s office added, that daily fantasy ‘wagers’ represented “a wager on a ‘contest of chance’ where winning or losing depends on numerous elements of chance to a ‘material degree’”.

After similar DFS illegal gambling regulations in Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada and Washington, New York became the seventh federal state to ban DraftKings and FanDuel from operation of paid daily fantasy sports services. According to the New York Times, around ten other federal states are preparing to introduce some regulations affecting fantasy sports operators.

DFS illegal gambling claim is not true according to FanDuel

Daily fantasy operator FanDuel was quick to issue a statement reacting to the words of the New York state attorney general’s office. It said, “Fantasy sports is a game of skill and legal under New York state law. This is a politician telling hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers they are not allowed to play a game they love and share with friends, family, co-workers and players across the country.”

DrafKings went further, calling New Yorkers to protect their right to play daily fantasy sports online. The DFS operator addressed their players after the statement emerged from the attorney general’s office. It said, “Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is considering preventing New Yorkers from playing daily fantasy sports. Hey, New York, protect your right to keep playing daily fantasy sports. Contact the attorney general today!”

DraftKings spokeswoman, Sabrina Macias said, more than half a million New York state residents were playing daily fantasy sports.

Meet you in court, bi#*@es!

Macias also commented the DFS illegal gambling claim by Schneiderman. She said, “We’re disappointed he hasn’t taken the time to meet with us or ask any questions about our business model before his opinion.” However, the attorney general’s spokesman, Eric Soufer stated that the office met with representatives of DraftKings several times before the DFS illegal gambling regulation had been issued.

DFS operators can take the decision to court, where the state might have to prove that chance is a considerable factor in fantasy sports, therefore they qualify as illegal gambling. Schneiderman’s words might be also displeasing for major leagues, that fight against bet on sports in the US, while maintaining strong relations with daily fantasy sports sites, with the owners of the Dallas Cowboys (Jerry Jones) and the New England Patriots (Robert E. Kraft) being amongst shareholders in DFS companies.

It is also interesting, that owners of several for internet gambling in the US reportedly also invested in fantasy companies. Moreover, some of the senior managers at DraftKings worked for internet gambling operators previously and some of them were professional poker players.

Seems like DFS really has to do something with online gambling after all…