Following the alleged October 2015 insider trading scandal involving daily fantasy sports (DFS) industry giants DraftKings, Inc. and FanDuel, Inc., a slew of consumer-based class actions were filed against the two companies.
In December 2015, DraftKings and FanDuel agreed with the plaintiffs that the cases should be consolidated in a single jurisdiction. Both companies argued before the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation that the consolidation should occur within the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, where DraftKings is headquartered.
The Panel ultimately agreed with DraftKings and FanDuel, ordering that the cases be consolidated in Massachusetts. The Panel supported its decision in stating that a “significant number of related actions that encompass all three theories of liability are pending in the [Massachusetts] district.” It was additionally noted that the Mass. forum is convenient because “DraftKings is headquartered in the district and the individual defendants reside either in the district or nearby, which will facilitate discovery.”
The cases will be consolidated for pretrial purposes. U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. was chosen by the Panel to oversee the actions.