There has been a new development in the ongoing legal battle between New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and daily fantasy sports (DFS) operators DraftKings and FanDuel, as the two largest DFS operators agreed earlier this week to stop taking bets in the state of New York. In exchange, the state’s attorney general’s office agreed to wait until the September appeals hearing is held to pursue additional litigation seeking restitution for participants who lost money in contests provided by the two DFS operators. Also as a part of the agreement, both sides agreed to abide by the appellate court’s decision on the legality of the games, foregoing potential appeals.
In response to this recent development, Attorney General Schneiderman stated, “As I’ve said from the start, my job is to enforce the law, and starting today, DraftKings and FanDuel will abide by it. Today’s agreement also creates an expedited path to resolve this litigation should that law change or upon a decision by the appellate division.” DraftKings and FanDuel each issued statements, which can be found here.
The agreement and appeals hearing may be moot, however, as several bills have been introduced in the New York legislature that would legalize, but regulate DFS. One such bill, which we previously covered in this blog, includes stringent regulatory requirements in addition to significant tax burdens. More information on that bill can be found here.