WCOFF bankruptcy

Team Legacy · Post by **Team Legacy** » Thu Dec 15, 2011 9:09 pm

http://www.ky3.com/videogallery/6673279 ... asy-Sports

Here's the FOX news broadcast.

[ December 16, 2011, 03:09 AM: Message edited by: Scott Atkins ]

Ted's Cracked Head · Post by **Ted's Cracked Head** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 3:58 am

"Criminal charges may be filed" was my favorite part of the Fox News story. One can only hope .......

fflmaster · Post by **fflmaster** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 10:53 am

Originally posted by Silver and Black:
"Criminal charges may be filed" was my favorite part of the Fox News story. One can only hope ....... I have to say when I heard that statement I was smiling from ear to ear.

The only thing I don't like about all the attention this is getting is that they are only mentioning Dustin.

Now before people want to shoot me, let me say for everyone that I think Dustin is a crook and should go to jail.

However, I think that the other owners Jesse, Peter Pinto and whomever else should also feel the brunt of all legal action against them.

EVERYONE who stole our money should be brought up on charges for fraud and see jail time.

fflmaster · Post by **fflmaster** » Fri Dec 16, 2011 11:02 am

From the teaser trailer that scott posted, I will say I think I am wrong and this 15+ mins on outside the lines will be ENTIRELY about how the WCOFF failed and didn't pay its winners.

I like the sound of what was said except hopefully they don't give Dustin a median to say "its not my fault. It was the bad economy" bullsh*t.

I know I am gong to be really angry after seeing this, but sure not as angry as Tony and the other big winners.

Greg Ambrosius · Post by **Greg Ambrosius** » Sat Dec 17, 2011 5:20 am

Originally posted by Scott Atkins:
The show is a go gang, here's the trailer:

http://www.espnmediazone3.com/us/2011/1 ... r-15-2011/

In the world of fantasy sports, nothing was bigger than the World Championship of Fantasy Football (WCOFF), boasting some of fantasy sports’ largest cash prizes. But last year, fantasy football and baseball winners stopped getting paid, and a business that appeared to be at the height of success began to crumble, leaving players wondering what happened to the thousands of dollars they paid in entrance fees. Reporter T.J. Quinn uncovers what may have gone wrong with the WCOFF.

“When 12 guys put in $25,000 for a fantasy football league with the biggest fantasy football company around, and then the winner doesn't get paid, I want to know what happened to the money”. -- Chad Schroeder, professional gambler

"We're a small operation, and the economy got us. We made some bad bets. As a business we've lost over $4 million and unfortunately there are still some people who haven't been paid. That pales in comparison to what our investors have incurred. We needed someone to step in and get in the fight with us. We couldn't find that person to get us over the hump." -- Dustin Ashby, who, with a partner, purchased WCOFF from its original owners From the looks of the trailer, this is going to be an investigative piece on a sports business that went bad and affected a lot of people. Seems like a legitimate story to me. TJ Quinn is a respected journalist and I give credit to ESPN already for acknowledging that one of their own -- Suzy Kolber -- was there to hand the imaginary $300,000 check to Tony Windis. It's a bad story for our industry, but one that should be told and from the early looks ESPN will do it right. I hope that's what happens.

I also think this Missouri Attorney General isn't going to let go of this case until it's resolved, too. I don't know if that means that players will eventually get paid part of their winnings or not, but if he goes after the fraud part of the case then the bankruptcy filing might not be enough to protect the owners of this business. There still might be some resolution for players before all is said and done, depending on how aggressive this AG is towards not only Dustin by the majority owners of the business. Dustin was the face of the WCOFF but there were others who financed this investment.

The one thing I don't get about the suit filed by the AG is the amount of damages he believes Gridiron Sports has inflicted on consumers. He says less than $350,000, which doesn't even cover the winnings of Chad Schroeder, Tony Windis and Kevin Kirves. Between those three players alone it's over $600,000. With 460+ creditors on the bankruptcy filing, it's not hard to see that total prize money owed is well over $1 million. Unfortunately, much of that is from players who allowed WCOFF to carry over their winnings to the next season...a season that never came.

I will be watching tomorrow and feeling bad for all involved. This was easily a problem that could have been avoided, no matter what anyone says. This was a profitable business, a shining star for our industry, a great example of entrepreunerialship creating a fantastic product. And bad, bad business decisions by new owners who overpaid for the asset led to this demise and then dishonesty led to what could become criminal actions. What a shame. What a crying shame for everyone.

Continued good luck all. It looks like some folks are fighting for ya and I have a feeling this fight isn't going away anytime soon. I hope you all eventually get paid what is due you.

Tom Kessenich · Post by **Tom Kessenich** » Sat Dec 17, 2011 5:27 am

"We're a small operation, and the economy got us."-- Dustin Ashby, who, with a partner, purchased WCOFF from its original owners

With all due respect to Dustin, the economy had very little, if anything, to do with what happened to WCOFF. This was bad business pure and simple. Heck, the opening of the ESPN trailer points out one example - the girls in ref outfits. We all loved the pretty girls as facilitators but ask yourself how much that must have cost to put together. And that's just a small example. There were far greater and more egregious ones.

Sorry Dustin, the economy didn't sink WCOFF. You guys did. And far too many people have paid the price for it.

bald is beautiful · Post by **bald is beautiful** » Sat Dec 17, 2011 9:13 am

I wish everyone would stop speculating "how the government is going to get involved". I keep hearing that.

The government is not going to get involved. We think way too highly of our little hobby.

KenGill · Post by **KenGill** » Sat Dec 17, 2011 9:42 am

Bald - I hope you are right, but the government is already regulating on line poker which is quite similar to the high stakes fantasy contests. You would think that 14 Trillion of debt to manage would keep them busy, but you never know.

Team Legacy · Post by **Team Legacy** » Sun Dec 18, 2011 3:02 am

Here we go gang!

Team Legacy · Post by **Team Legacy** » Wed Jan 04, 2012 10:53 am

Please see our most recent post on the FPA beta blog for an update from Chris Banks, lead attorney in the case The Players vs WCOFF.

http://www.fantasyplayersassociation.co ... 2&Itemid=4