New York ban on DFS

[JETS SB]

If all of DFS is evil and needs to be eradicated how come only Fanduel and Draft Kings are being banned in New York? Shouldn't every DFS entity be banned if the problem is the game itself?

DraftOps and DailyMVP have ceased operations in New York. Yahoo next?

Alan, don't be shortsighted about this: Follow the money. Follow the money.

Do you think this AG is doing this to PROTECT New York citizens or is he doing this for his special interest groups? Check out this story to find a clue to that answer:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitn ... orts-money

A daily fantasy sports company not named DraftKings or FanDuel has called out the New York State Attorney General. Andrew Busa, Founder and CEO of FantasyHub, says that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has improperly targeted the daily fantasy industry while turning a blind eye to gambling and casino companies that line his pockets.

In an email titled, “An aggressive response against New York’s actions on DFS,” Busa writes, “Last year alone Eric Schneiderman took in $48,750 in campaign contributions from gambling and casinos companies; this doesn’t include $37,250 from Cantor Fitzgerald, one of the largest private partnerships on Wall Street, and in the past decade moved in to many industries including gambling. Cantor Gaming controls over 30% of the Nevada sports wagering market. Where is their cease and desist?”

Busa relied on a Wall Street Journal article from January 8, 2014 for the position that Cantor Gaming controls more than 30% of Nevada’s sports-wagering market.

New York follows Nevada as the most recent state to take the position that daily fantasy sports operations constitute illegal gambling . Whereas Nevada has a mechanism for sites like FanDuel and DraftKings to apply for gaming licenses and be deemed legal if registered, no such option exists for daily fantasy sports websites in the State of New York, where sports betting remains illegal under the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992.

Currently, no daily fantasy sports operators have applied for a gambling license in the State of Nevada, which is believed to be due to a fear that it will be used against them as a tacit admission to engaging in gambling operations.
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While it has not been expressly stated as such by the Nevada Gaming Control Board, it is likely true that casino licensees were influential in the adoption of a licensing mechanism for daily fantasy sports operations, thereby deeming them to be providing gambling opportunities to players. Busa believes that New York Attorney General Schneiderman may also be influenced by those casino-related interests that have provided campaign contributions to him in the past and may wish for daily fantasy sports to remain outside of the state.

“Casino Gambling Expert Steve Bourie reported in 2014 that while Eric Schneiderman has been AG since 2011, ‘All New York racinos, are using bait and switch tactics on their video poker customers by not clearly explaining that the games they offer are not based on skill. Unlike slot machines, where no skill is involved, video poker games in almost all U.S. gaming jurisdictions are based on skill.’ Where was their cease and desist?,” asks Busa.

Additionally, Busa states, “To a third party, it is interesting an Attorney General, in a state where he doesn’t oversee the Gaming Commission, would happen to take in campaign donations from casinos. Those contributions which only occurred in 2014 and not in 2011, what changed?”

Busa did not have to make his position on the New York Attorney General public, as DraftKings and FanDuel are the only daily fantasy sports companies that have thus far received cease and desist demands. However, his position is that the Attorney General’s office did not just call out DraftKings and FanDuel, but the entire industry. Busa also notes that FantasyHub will continue to operate in New York, but does not provide pay-for-prize services to residents of Arizona, Iowa, Montana, Nevada, Louisiana and Washington.

“In my opinion, when an event occurs out of the blue, without a ton of evidence, there is typically something else in play,” added Busa. ”The AG, likely, didn’t consult the New York Gaming Commission when he made his decision. There is one data point; about 1% of DraftKings winners win a vast majority of the money. That report comes from Sports Business Journal. Did he talk to any other companies?”

“AG Eric didn’t ask FantasyHub what percent of users win a large portion of the money. If he did, I would have told him 10x more users win on FantasyHub than on DraftKings, when comparing to the SBJ report,” says Busa. “I can only ask, why not? Why Daily Fantasy to use your powers to make change? Who are the victims? where is the harm for what we do?”

Darren Heitner is a lawyer and the Founder of South Florida-based HEITNER LEGAL, P.L.L.C., which has a focus on Sports Law and Entertainment Law.

Hey Greg. I don't think I am being shortsighted. I get why they are doing this and whether we think they are right or wrong, FanDuel and DraftKings were advertising every five minutes about giving away 2 billion dollars this year, and brought this on themselves. Whether they get shut down or not, I personally feel ( and I am far from being alone on this ) that the NFBC and NFFC should be distancing themselves from this and protecting the year long. I want you guys to be around for a long time and it just doesn't make sense that we are still associating ourselves with DFS. We had the opening with the New York AG distinguishing between the two. Who better than the NFBC/NFFC to take a stance for season long and stress the difference and not worry ourselves or associate with DFS. The outlook is not good for independent DFS games. They will be regulated and taxed and if we don't act accordingly, we might be lumped in. Take a stance for season long and only season long. Let DFS worry about themselves. Once again, I only say this because I love you guys and this great game I have been a part of for so many years. I want to continue to enjoy it and DFS is as much to blame for this mess and the government intervening.

[ChiTwn]

Hey Greg. I don't think I am being shortsighted. I get why they are doing this and whether we think they are right or wrong, FanDuel and DraftKings were advertising every five minutes about giving away 2 billion dollars this year, and brought this on themselves. Whether they get shut down or not, I personally feel ( and I am far from being alone on this ) that the NFBC and NFFC should be distancing themselves from this and protecting the year long.

I want you guys to be around for a long time and it just doesn't make sense that we are still associating ourselves with DFS. We had the opening with the New York AG distinguishing between the two. Who better than the NFBC/NFFC to take a stance for season long and stress the difference and not worry ourselves or associate with DFS. The outlook is not good for independent DFS games. They will be regulated and taxed and if we don't act accordingly, we might be lumped in. Take a stance for season long and only season long. Let DFS worry about themselves.

Once again, I only say this because I love you guys and this great game I have been a part of for so many years. I want to continue to enjoy it and DFS is as much to blame for this mess and the government intervening.

This a 1000%. I really don't want NFFC and season long to be on the titanic that is DFS when it sinks.

Daily fantasy somehow thought they could just run their company like a startup. They thought nothing of writer's having access to ownership info. It didn't even cross their minds, because of the mind boggling $$$ that are floating around. They didn't have time for that kind of controls to be implemented. Not when they had to grab marketshare with the umpteenth commercial.

Honestly, like Jets SB mentioned those commercials really really brought the heat onto them. When that info leaked about Eric haskell, he made a post on a forum apologizing. Then the mods of said site, just said okay everything is good move along people. Both the CEOs of DK and Fanduel just put their head in the sand till they couldn't ignore the issue anymore. By that time it was too late.

If the Jerry Jones and Robert Kraft sell their stakes in DFS. The NY AG and Dept of Justice will take a battering ram to DFS.


Check out this Story in the NY Post.

http://nypost.com/2015/11/12/nfl-team-o ... in-danger/

Meanwhile, The Post has learned:

 The NFL is not helping out the companies in any way in Washington. Its powerful Beltway lobbyists are not getting involved, according to one DC source and a person close to the league.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, as recently as Oct. 7 at an owners’ meeting, cast a jaundiced eye on daily fantasy sports — saying the 2006 law exempting fantasy sports from an anti-gambling law was aimed at season-long leagues and not daily leagues.

DraftKings was in the middle of a fundraising round when the AG’s shift hit the fantasy sports companies.

The fundraising effort was stopped dead in its tracks, sources said. The cash-raising could restart if the companies prevail over the AG.

DraftKings’ last funding round attributed a valuation of $1 billion.

 WCBS-TV, which is airing the Thursday New York Jets game locally, will not show any commercials for the daily fantasy sports giants.

Luckily, that 2nd point regarding Goodell's position on the anti-gambling law gives me some hope. It was aimed at season long and not DFS. Hopefully, if season long gets lumped the NFL will step in.

[KenGill]

We must band together and make a stand against the out of control American political class!

Rally around Trump! Rally around Trump! Rally around Trump!

First destroy the Republican Party. Then destroy the Democratic Party. Eat them from the inside out!

Never....ever....ever...for any reason....vote for a career politician again!

End this terrible mess the political class has brought upon us for the past 60 years (slight reprieve when Reagan stole the Republican party from the political class in the 80s).

End their institutions of higher learning. Never....ever....ever....for any reason....higher a graduate of an Ivy League institution. They are "meta-thinkers" who cannot solve problems. They are trained only to think about how others think and feel about problems. Anything you can do, I can do meta!!!!

Time to make a stand, people!

Agree on all points. This country badly needs a third political party. I've been saying that since '92 when I voted for Perot. The system is completely and utterly broken. Trump isn't God, and he sure isn't perfect. But he's the best hope we have to turn things around.

[afv]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq785nJ0FXQ

15:30 mark

[TR]

John Oliver nailed it

[Greg Ambrosius]

Next Wednesday will be "D Day" for the DFS industry as a New York Supreme Court judge will hear the arguments from Draft Kings and Fanduel against New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. Here's the details:

http://espn.go.com/chalk/story/_/id/141 ... er-request

Unfortunately for the rest of the industry, the merits of their case rest on the way Schneiderman made his initial ruling. He stated that DFS was illegal sports gambling, while season-long fantasy games have always been considered games of skill and will continue to be ruled that way. That's the opening the DFS lawyers are going to use to present their case. In their eyes, both games are games of skill and thus should be lumped together in analyzing whether both are legal or not. Here's an example of that thinking:

"We look forward to our day in court," Josh Schiller of Boies, Schiller and Flexner, part of the legal team arguing on behalf of DraftKings, told ESPN.com. "Daily fantasy sports are not an illegal gambling operation, and there's no credibility to the argument that season-long fantasy could be legal while daily fantasy isn't. Daily fantasy requires more skill and less chance."

Nobody wants to pit one fantasy game against the other as the entire industry is under attack by aggressive AGs, but this "daily fantasy requires more skill and less chance" argument AGAINST season-long is getting old fast. Real old. I wish they were taking a different approach, but I guess we're all being lumped together in New York. Not good.

Thanksgiving is Thursday. Let's see if we have anything to be thankful for by then.

[Team Legacy]

And to see that the FSTA lobbyist position is that "Daily requires more skill" pretty much throws season long under the bus. Why does this not surprise me?

[Greg Ambrosius]

The New York trial is tomorrow morning to see if FD and DK can get a Temporary Restraining Order in the state of New York. The arguments have already been forwarded to the judge:

http://www.legalsportsreport.com/6523/d ... ign=buffer

[robby1]

What a stupid approach. Judge will think that both DFS and season long fantasy illegal since chance a material element of both. Of course it is.

Obviously, season long not the target at hearing, but AG's soft approach on it is not a persuasive reason to validate DFS based on the (for the moment) assumed legality of a game not at issue in hearing. After ruling against DFS, then AG can say, "I guess I really better reconsider if season long is legal. Gosh."

Thanks Mr. Bush v. Gore loser for sounding the desk knell for all fantasy sports.

[robby1]

Love auto-correct.