New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, has reportedly amended his lawsuits against daily fantasy companies DraftKings and FanDuel and is demanding that the companies return all the money made by them in New York as well as pay a fine of up to $5,000 per case.
Schneiderman’s move could see the daily fantasy sports (DFS) industry being hit with fines totally approximately $3 billion (€2.8 billion).
There are approximately 600,000 people currently playing DFS games in the state and New York could demand a total of hundreds of millions of dollars for buy-ins as well as the fines.
In November, 2015, Schneiderman determined that daily fantasy sites which include DraftKings and FanDuel qualify as illegal gambling and ordered them to refrain from accepting bets from residents in the US state.
New York’s decision comes a couple of weeks after Nevada’s Gaming Control Board ordered sites such as these to stop accepting bets in New York.
Although the daily fantasy sports companies claimed that they were operating within New York law, last month State Supreme Justice Manuel Mendez granted the New York Attorney General’s request for an injunction to block the two companies from operating in New York and also denied temporary retaining orders from the daily fantasy sport brands.
The battle with Schneiderman recommenced after DraftKings and FanDuel’s temporary stay in New York expired on 4th January, 2016.
In the amendment, Schneiderman accused the websites of committing “repeated and persistent fraudulent acts’ and claimed that first deposit bonuses was evidence of its malpractice. He also said that the sites misrepresent the chances and skill levels required to win “life-changing” amounts in marketing and advertising.
A lawyer representing DraftKings, responded by saying that the amended complaint shows that Schneiderman “still does not understand” the DFS market and has a “fundamental misunderstanding of such competitions.
