Daily Fantasy Sports under fire in NY

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman amended a lawsuit against DraftKings and FanDuel.

US.- The lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General may cost the Daily Fantasy Sport (DFS) industry approximately US$3 billion in fines. AG Eric Schneiderman declared past November that DFS constitutes illegal gambling demanding DraftKings and FanDuel to stop taking bets from customers in the state. In turn, the DFS sites claimed they were operating within New York law but nevertheless, State Supreme Justice Manuel Mendez granted Schneiderman’s request last month for an injunction to block both companies from operating in New York. The judge also denied temporary retaining orders from the DFS brands.

Schneiderman amended his lawsuit against the two companies to seek the return of all the buy-ins paid by customers who played in New York last year, as well as a fine of US$5,000 per head. There are approximately 600,000 DFS players in the state so this sum will result in hundreds of millions of dollars for buy-ins and around US$3 billion in fines.

Schneiderman highlighted first deposit bonuses as evidence of supposed malpractice adding that the sites misrepresent the chances and skill levels needed to win “life-changing” amounts of money in marketing and advertising. On the other hand, DraftKings’ lawyer David Boies, stated that Schneiderman’s amends prove he “still does not understand” the DFS market, therefore his actions are based on a “fundamental misunderstanding of such competitions.”