Almost 80 lawsuits filed against DFS operators
The two largest operators of online daily fantasy sports contests in the US face over 80 class actions.
US.- Nearly 80 class actions were filed against DraftKings Inc. and FanDuel Inc., the online daily fantasy sports (DFS) operators. A six-member panel will handle the actions against DraftKings and FanDuel.
The panel appointed the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts to handle the actions against the two biggest DFS operators, outlining that the federal court will serve the “convenience of the parties and witnesses and promote the just and efficient conduct of this litigation.”
Sarah Vance, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana and chair of the MDL panel wrote: “These actions share factual questions arising from plaintiffs’ allegations that: (a) the DFS (Daily Fantasy Sports) Defendants allowed their employees to participate in competitors’ fantasy sports contests using nonpublic information that gave them an unfair advantage over other contestants; (b) the DFS Defendants operate online daily fantasy sports contests in contravention of state anti-gambling statutes; (c) DraftKings conducted an allegedly deceptive and fraudulent initial deposit matching scheme; or (d) some combination thereof.”
A total of three dockets are being compiled, one comprising 14 actions, another 12 actions and a third consisting of eight actions. Altogether, there are 80 actions at issue in these three dockets, either listed on the motion or noticed as a related or potential tag-along action.
Around 42 of these actions involve insider trading allegations, 36 involve illegal gambling allegations, eight involve bonus fraud allegations and several allege both insider trading and either illegal gambling or bonus fraud claims.
