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NY Attorney General says DraftKings and FanDuel are illegal gambling business

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K

Kifimbo

Member
The New York State attorney general on Tuesday ordered the two biggest daily fantasy sports companies, DraftKings and FanDuel, to stop accepting bets in New York, saying that their games constituted illegal gambling under state law, according to people with knowledge of his investigation.

The cease-and-desist order by the attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, is a major blow to a multibillion-dollar industry that introduced sports betting to legions of young sports fans and has formed partnerships with many of the nation’s professional sports teams. Given the New York attorney general’s historic role as a consumer-protection advocate, legal experts say the action will most likely reverberate in other states where legislators and investigators are increasingly questioning whether the industry should operate unfettered by regulations that govern legalized gambling.

[...]

The two companies can challenge the attorney general’s order in court. According to Joseph M. Kelly, a professor of business law at the State University College at Buffalo, the state would have to prove that chance is a material factor in fantasy sports, which would make it gambling.
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More here: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/11/s...taking-bets-in-new-york.html?smid=tw-bna&_r=0
 
J

JCX

Member
whatever needs to be done to stop the constant ads. haven't been this annoyed since HeadOn.
 
entremet

entremet

Member
JCX said:
whatever needs to be done to stop the constant ads. haven't been this annoyed since HeadOn.
Click to expand...

These kind of complaints should tell marketers that you just don't do blanket advertising like that.

It only makes people hate your product lol.
 
J

jman2050

Member
I'm surprised unregulated gambling of this nature has gotten as big as it has without this kind of pushback happening sooner.
 
B

border

Member
I was wondering when the government was going to do something about all the fantasy sports gambling operations.

I hate hearing all my favorite podcasters read advertising copy for these slimy-ass companies. "We crown a new millionaire every week!" Yeah, because you take a million dollars from a few hundred thousand suckers and give it to one lucky asshole.
 
C

ColdPizza

Banned
I wish there was a way they could ban the commercials in NY as well then.

Won't people just start using proxies then? I'm unfamiliar with the registration process. Do they know if I'm from NY by IP Address or by info I provide during registration?
 
G

Gentleman Jack

Member
I have to wonder what would have happened if their employees hadn't been caught with their hands in the cookie jars. Business as usual? Buy themselves a few more months/years to get rich off hopelessly addicted gamblers?

It really never made sense to me that sports betting is illegal. Feels like such a holdover from 19th century moral crusades against 'degenerate behavior.'
 
B

border

Member
ColdPizza said:
I wish there was a way they could ban the commercials in NY as well then.

Won't people just start using proxies then? I'm unfamiliar with the registration process. Do they know if I'm from NY by IP Address or by info I provide during registration?
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This is more about making it incredibly difficult for these companies to do business in New York, and less about restricting access for customers.
 
J

Josh5890

Member
It is a matter of time. I enjoy doing it, but it is gambling no doubt. The funny thing is that most states sponsor a lottery but want to keep sports gambling out of their states.
 
S

Scrooged

Totally wronger about Nintendo's business decisions.
"Why bother with 16 week seasons? At Draft Kings a season is only one week! Become a millionaire now!"

Fuck off.

About time they get called out.
 
D

DashReindeer

Lead Community Manager, Outpost Games
entrement said:
These kind of complaints should tell marketers that you just don't do blanket advertising like that.

It only makes people hate your product lol.
Click to expand...

Or like the exact opposite of that supposition. The goal is to get everyone to know your product. Doesn't really matter how the ads make people feel. The marketing campaign was exceedingly successful. Everyone knows the product as a result, and that's all they want.
 
D

danm999

Member
From the ubiquitous podcast ads these services do I cannot fathom how they're not gambling and it seems they've slipped through a loophole, so either change the laws regarding gambling or treat them as gambling.
 
J

Josh5890

Member
Dega said:
So is that two states so far or have I missed some?
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From the Draft Kings website

Legal residents physically located in any of the 50 states and Washington DC, excluding Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, and Washington are eligible to open an account and participate in contests offered by DraftKings. Legal residents of Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, Nevada, and Washington are not permitted to participate on the website in any capacity regardless of their geographic location.
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G

Gentleman Jack

Member
Scrooged said:
"Why bother with 16 week seasons? At Draft Kings a season is only one week! Become a millionaire now!"

Fuck off.

About time they get called out.
Click to expand...

To me this is their biggest sin, advertising how people made millions off of fantasy sports betting, ignoring the piles of corpses upon which such fortunes are made.

I mean, casino advertising and state run lotteries are scarcely better, showing players lavished with unimaginable wealth for no effort and low risk.

But Draft Kings/FanDuel really overreached with that shit by pretending they weren't actually gambling organizations.
 
S

Sanjuro

Member
But where will Martha Coakley work now?!

She needs our help. Maybe she should set her team and win MILLIONS before it's too late!
 
B

border

Member
Retro4ever said:
It is a matter of time. I enjoy doing it, but it is gambling no doubt. The funny thing is that most states sponsor a lottery but want to keep sports gambling out of their states.
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I think the problem is when they set gambling up as a big compulsion loop that can be infinitely repeated like a slot machine. That's a scenario that can ruin lives.

And while I don't doubt that there are idiots that blow too much money on the lottery, most people only play a few sets of numbers once a week. Fantasy Sports are now centered around daily leagues where the potential for heavy losses is a lot greater. You lost today? Well, start again tomorrow!

If these sites actually did require season-long commitments I probably wouldn't have a problem with them at all.
 
T

The Llama

Member
Those commercials have made me hate them way more than I should. Good riddance. Can't wait until they're illegal everywhere.
 
HoodWinked

HoodWinked

Member
its illegal in certain states already this isnt really all that surprising.

you cant win money in Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana, and Washington
 
H

harSon

Banned
Was those two employees accused of insider trading the catalyst for this? If so, dude's are pretty hated by a lot of people right about now.
 
D

darkside31337

Tomodachi wa Mahou
I do not care for either site in the slightest but this is ridiculous.

The attorney general’s office also said that ads on the two sites “seriously mislead New York citizens about their prospects of winning.” State investigators found that to date, “the top 1 percent of DraftKings winners receive the vast majority of the winnings.”
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If this ends up in court I hope it eventually leads to the death of the biggest sham of all - the state lottery.
 
B

BigDug13

Member
Any gambling site that is making enough profit to be able to afford so many commercials at basically every single commercial break of every single football game as well as during Sportscenter breaks is obviously not a place that is giving its consumers a high percentage chance to win anything.
 
D

Doc Holliday

SPOILER: Columbus finds America
I'm not a gambler but it's a bit hypocritical to make these illegal yet run the state lotto with its shitty odds.

darkside31337 said:
I do not care for either site in the slightest but this is ridiculous.



If this ends up in court I hope it eventually leads to the death of the biggest sham of all - the state lottery.
Click to expand...


What a farce
 
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