DraftKings and FanDuel Agree to Pay $2.6 Million to End Massachusetts Attorney General Investigation

On September 7, 2017, DraftKings and FanDuel, two daily fantasy sports platforms, agreed to pay $2.6 million to settle the Massachusetts investigation into their unfair and deceptive practices. The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office did not state what the violations were, but the fines are the result of a 2015 investigation into the two companies’ business operations.

In its 2015 investigation the Attorney General’s Office noted that consumers did not have adequate protections from the websites’ operators and more regulation was needed. This led to the …

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Suit Claiming Daily Fantasy Sports Law is Unconstitutional Continues

A group of citizens’ suit against the New York Attorney General and New York Gambling Commission was allowed to continue after a New York Judge denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case. The plaintiffs, a group that claims they are victims of gambling and are opposed to the proliferation of gambling, claimed the law legalizing daily fantasy sports is in violation of New York State’s constitutional prohibition on gambling expansion.

The group of citizens claimed that the law allowing daily fantasy sports to …

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Delaware Becomes Number 14 in Legalizing Daily Fantasy Sports

Delaware Governor John Carney signed House Bill 249, making Delaware the latest state to legalize daily fantasy sports. Delaware became the fourteenth state to formally legalize the activity and the fourth state this year. The bill classifies daily fantasy sports as games of skill, rather than gambling, and will take effect before the start of the upcoming football season.

The law attaches several regulations to the online fantasy sports. An operator, such as FanDuel and DraftKings, will have to apply for a license and pay …

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FTC Pressure Forces DFS Giants to Cancel Merger Plans

Last November, FanDuel and DraftKings announced their plan to merge, and sought to combine the two largest operators of paid fantasy daily sports. The agreement came amidst scrutiny from several state attorneys general and other regulators over the legality of daily fantasy sports. On July 13, 2017, the two daily fantasy sports giants announced they would no longer pursue their plan to join forces.

The most recent announcement came after the FTC filed a lawsuit against DraftKings and FanDuel in June, saying the two …

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Update: Federal Judge Grants Temporary Restraining Order Blocking FanDuel DraftKings Merger

U.S. District Court Judge Ketanji Brown issued a temporary restraining order preventing DraftKings and FanDuel from completing their merger as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) seeks a preliminary injunction.

The proposed merger would keep both websites operational. DraftKings CEO Jason Robbins will be the CEO of the merged company and FanDuel CEO Nigel Eccles will become Chairman of the Board. Even though both companies will still be operating and consumers will have a choice of which to use, the FTC argues the merger will …

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FTC Seeks Injunction on FanDuel and DraftKings Merger

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the attorney generals for California and the District of Columbia will file a complaint to prevent the merger of FanDuel and DraftKings while the FTC is reviewing the merger process. FanDuel and DraftKings make up 95 percent of the daily fantasy sports market. The FTC argues the merger would “deprive customers of the substantial benefits of direct competition.”

The companies announced the merger in November 2016, in large part to cut their legal bills. At the time, the …

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New Jersey Assembly Reaches Endzone with DFS Bill

On Monday, May 22, 2017, the New Jersey Assembly was able to advance a bill to the Senate that would regulate daily fantasy sports games in their state. Assembly Bill 3532 passed, following a 56-16 vote, with two members abstaining. The vote came just less than four months after unanimous approval by the Assembly’s Tourism, Gaming and the Arts Committee, and two months after an 8-3 approval by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

The bill would regulate all fantasy or simulated activities or contests that utilize …

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Five College Baseball Players Suspended for Involvement in Fantasy Sports

Student-athletes need to think twice before accepting their fantasy football league invitations this year. Five players from the University of Richmond’s baseball team have learned this lesson the hard way. The five effected players have begun the 2017 college baseball season suspended by the NCAA for their involvement in a fantasy football league.

The NCAA rules state: “You are not eligible to compete if you knowingly participate in any sports wagering activity that involves intercollegiate, amateur or professional athletics, through a bookmaker, a parlay card …

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Maryland Adopts Daily Fantasy Sports Regulations

Maryland’s fashionably late adoption of daily fantasy sports regulations went into effect on January 2, 2017, providing several consumer safeguards  in the industry. State regulations surrounding the industry came flooding in after fantasy sport kingpins DraftKings Inc. and FanDuel Inc. faced a number of class action suits in 2015. Maryland’s regulations appear much less restrictive than most, however, in that they do not require operators to shell out a high registration fee (Virginia requires a whopping $50,000), and they set its minimum age at 18 …

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Daily Fantasy Sports in New York Faces Constitutional Challenge

Just when New York residents thought it was safe to activate their daily fantasy sports accounts, another suit has been filed in the Empire State seeking the immediate and permanent halt to daily fantasy sports. The recent attack is coming from a group known as the Stop Predatory Gambling (SPG) advocacy group. SPG filed a suit contending that the recent law enacted back in August regarding daily fantasy sports not constitutional. SPG claims that in order to enact New York’s controversial daily fantasy sports law, …

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