DraftKings to Fight Daily Fantasy Sports Illegal Gambling Ruling

DraftKings is set to fight the cease-and-desist notice sent to it by NYC Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who recently made a daily fantasy sports illegal gambling ruling.

In US gambling news, DraftKings has confirmed that it will be taking legal action against Schneiderman through the New York Supreme Court. Schneiderman’s daily fantasy sports illegal gambling ruling came after he launched a probe into the DFS market following an incident in which a DraftKings employee won a monetary prize through FanDuel, its rival operator.

Schneiderman is not the only one to have reacted to the controversy. Both the FBI and US Department of Justice have begun to investigate the industry, while the state of Nevada has outlawed all DFS operators without a proper betting license.

Led by Schneiderman’s investigation, New York now seeks to follow Nevada’s suit. While he has not yet asked DraftKings and FanDuel to completely cease their operations in the Big Apple, he has ordered both operators to stop accepting wagers from New York Residents.

Daily fantasy sports illegal gambling ruling a farce, says DraftKings

Schneiderman’s argument for the unlawfulness of daily fantasy sports is that operators are “clearly placing bets on events outside their control of influence, specifically on real game performance of professional athletes.” He says that this makes it considered illegal under US gambling laws .

In opposition, DFS kingpin DraftKings considers Schneiderman’s daily fantasy sports illegal gambling ruling ridiculous. They maintain that DFS is a game of skill and therefore legal, and have every intention to fight the General Attorney in court.

In a statement issued Friday, DraftKings 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 that they love.”