Now that the two largest online daily fantasy sports sites are back in the news—nearing a deal to merge into a company drawing $100 million in revenue, according to the Wall Street Journal—it’s a good time to answer a nasty, nagging question: Are these sites legal? Because the companies in question, FanDuel and DraftKings, are backed, respectively, by fat investments from Comcast and 21st Century Fox, it’s apparent that some high-powered attorneys must think that they are. And in fact, at this point, they’re clearly legal in at least nine states. So the real question is whether they will become…

The country’s two leading online daily fantasy sports companies are paying out big — in fines to the state. FanDuel and DraftKings on Tuesday agreed to pay $6 million each to settle lawsuits from Attorney General Eric Schneiderman alleging they engaged in false and deceptive advertising practices. Schneiderman had charged that the companies misled casual and novice players about their chances of winning and the significant advantages professional players have while failing to disclose the dangers of gambling addiction. The companies also agreed to revamp their marketing, including better disclosure of expected winnings and performance. Because of recent financial struggles,…

Daily fantasy sports platform FanDuel announced on August 1 a bold new feature that takes on the bigger, more entrenched “season-long” fantasy sports providers. And today that feature goes live to all FanDuel users. The feature is called Friends Mode, and it allows FanDuel users to set up private, recurring leagues to play against friends every week of the season. (The core of the FanDuel product, in the past, was for users to enter large prize pools with strangers.) The format of this is still “daily” fantasy, meaning that every week, users can draft a new team, but by making…

Say goodbye to the FanDuel logo with the script font that helped usher in the rise of daily fantasy sports. FanDuel announced a rebrand on Monday morning, going with a new look and color scheme ahead of the fantasy football season. It also introduced a “players bill of rights,” a set of measures that generally align with regulations that are being rolled out in jurisdictions across the US. “The past year has been tumultuous for this industry but FanDuel has emerged stronger than ever and we are ready to lead the industry forward,” said FanDuel CEO Nigel Eccles in a…

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation Wednesday formally legalizing daily fantasy sports in the Empire State and handing the embattled industry its biggest victory to date. Fantasy operators that were active in New York before Nov. 10, 2015 must receive a temporary permit from the New York Gaming Commission before reopening for business. The process isn’t expected to take long, and FanDuel and DraftKings, the two leading daily fantasy operators, expect to be up and running in New York before the NFL season kicks off in early September, if not sooner. “Daily fantasy sports have proven to be popular…

DraftKings CEO Jason Robins said that a possible merger between his company and FanDuel is a “very interesting idea” that could add value for shareholders and provide customers with a better service at a better cost. But he declined to rate the chances of it happening after recent reports of merger discussions between the two daily fantasy sports rivals. “I don’t really have much more insight into how likely or not likely that would be,” Robins told USA TODAY Sports Saturday. “I certainly haven’t changed my view on how interesting it is.” United as one or not, Robins still said he sees…