There are at least 1.3 billion reasons why the operators of DraftKings and FanDuel are beginning to sweat. The two largest daily fantasy sports companies were each valued at $1.3 billion this year by the investment community. Both companies, fueled by hedge funds, investment firms, billionaires, and professional sports leagues, were considering initial public offerings sometime in 2016. That path met a roadblock. The Gaming Control Board issued a “cease and desist” order two weeks ago to the daily fantasy sports sites, saying the activity was the definition of sports wagering under Nevada law. Until they are licensed by the…

The NCAA bans DraftKings and daily fantasy sports provider FanDuel from their events. In a letter sent Tuesday, college sports’ largest governing body notified executives from DraftKings and FanDuel it would cancel future meetings and ban advertising from the two popular websites during NCAA championship events such as the men’s basketball tournament. Because the NCAA believes the fantasy games meet the definition of wagering, it has decided to ban all advertising, on site and on television, during championship events – a potentially big hit for two companies that have become major advertisers, particularly on television. The NCAA said its advertising…

On April 15, 2011, thousands of Americans who played online poker woke to find three popular websites shut down by the FBI and millions of dollars in players’ accounts frozen. The online poker industry survived its “Black Friday,” as the day became known, as the Obama administration declared online gaming legal later that year in states that approved it. But the aftermath should serve as a looming worst-case scenario to the millions of Americans who play daily fantasy sports, legal experts say, as many of those players who had money saved in online poker accounts had to wait years before…

DraftKings has cleared an employee of any wrongdoing after it was alleged he used insider information to win $350,000 (€308,300) on a website operated by rival daily fantasy sports (DFS) company FanDuel. Ethan Haskell, a manager at DraftKings, released key data on fantasy teams for the NFL American football league and won the real-money prize on FanDuel in the same week. Data released by Haskell showed which NFL players were most used in teams submitted to the website’s ‘Millionaire Maker’ contests, with this data not usually released until the line-ups for games have been completed. Furthermore, having such information prior…

Nevada gaming regulators banned unlicensed daily fantasy sports websites from providing their product to Silver State customers, saying the activity constitutes sports wagering. In an order filed by the Gaming Control Board Thursday, the agency said daily fantasy sports websites, such as DraftKings and FanDuel, can apply for a Nevada gaming license to operate a sports pool. The Control Board issued a “cease and desist” order that bans the websites from Nevada. “Since offering daily fantasy sports in Nevada is illegal without the proper license, all unlicensed activities must ceases and desist from the date of this notice,” wrote Gaming…

Amaya has stepped into the DFS ‘data leak scandal’ by calling on regulators in the US to take a tougher stance on daily fantasy sports (DFS) in order to better protect consumers and players. DFS has come under fire in the US this week after it was revealed that a DraftKings manager inadvertently released data showing he knew which players were most picked prior as part of American football fantasy teams. He then went on to win US$350,000 (€312,800) betting on NFL games through rival operator FanDuel. DraftKings and FanDuel in a statement defended the integrity of their businesses and…