DraftKings confronts New York Supreme Court ruling

The daily fantasy sports operator DraftKings is about to enter the war against the US federal government due to the New York Supreme Court last ruling. The Supreme Court seems to have made up its mind about daily fantasy sports, which are now part of the long list of illegal games. The US Department of Justice seems to worry about the possible threats that this line of business can bring to the table.

Peter Carr, spokesperson for the Department of Justice, stated: "The Department of Justice remains concerned about Internet gambling because of the potential for gambling by minors and compulsive gambling, the potential for fraud and money laundering and the potential for involvement of organized crime. We will decline to speculate on the legality of specific online sites. Federal law on this subject applies to gambling businesses and payment processors not to individuals who place wagers on these sites. As to whether individuals placing such wagers might be in violation of their states' gambling laws is a separate question."

DraftKings and FanDuel commenced taking legal actions right after State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman statement established daily fantasy sports as part of illegal gambling activities: “the operators are clearly placing bets on events outside their control of influence, specifically on the real game performance of professional athletes”.

Last Friday DraftKings came out publicly with its own response: “Today, we have taken decisive legal action to prevent a unilateral, misinformed and legally misguided attempt by the New York Attorney General to act as judge, jury and executioner for daily fantasy sports in New York. We are asking the New York Supreme Court to rule that the Attorney General’s cease-and-desist letter is unconstitutional, an abuse of discretion, and simply wrong. We are confident in our legal position and intend to continue to fight to preserve the right of the over 500,000 New York consumers to play the fantasy sports games they love.”