What are the Feds Focusing on with Fantasy Sports?

Federal investigations into the daily fantasy sports industry are open in three jurisdictions and may be exploring a variety of criminal questions, per comments made Thursday by an attorney representing unnamed DraftKings employees. The comments were made by Boston-based white-collar criminal defense attorney Paul Kelly during a public forum held at the University of New Hampshire School of Law where reporters were in attendance and audio recording was permitted. Near the start of his comments, Kelly said he represents “certain individuals, managers, from DraftKings.” A transcript of the speech is available below. DraftKings, FanDuel, and Mr. Kelly all provided statements…

First US State Legalizes Fantasy Sports

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe just signed into law the “Fantasy Contests Act,” which is a legal framework for fantasy sports providers that operate in the state. The bill, which was approved by the Virginia legislature a few weeks ago, makes Virginia the first state in the nation to impose state-led oversight of the industry. The state’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Service will be the state entity that oversees the industry. The bill will require fantasy sports sites to pay the state a $50,000 registration fee, and implement policies to verify that all participants are 18 years of age or older. It also requires player…

Fantasy Sports are gambling

Fantasy Updates from Texas, Indiana and Georgia

The fantasy sports industry continues to evolve rapidly in the United States, with several updates to report from around the nation this week. There was positive news from the Midwest, while southern states have not yet come on-board the regulation train. Indiana Sends Fantasy Regulation to Governor Indiana became the second state to officially send a fantasy sports regulatory bill to a governor after the Senate passed legislation on Friday. Virginia’s fantasy sports bill was passed by both chambers last week and landed on the governor’s desk this week. The bill won’t immediately go to Gov. Mike Pence, per GamblingCompliance,…

Citigroup Blocks New York Fantasy Transactions

New York Fantasy Sports sites FanDuel Inc. and DraftKings Inc., already facing mounting legal and regulatory scrutiny, ran into more trouble when Citigroup said it was blocking transactions by New York state residents. The move by the world’s largest credit-card lender added to the pressure in New York, the heart of the fantasy-sports industry’s legal woes since Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sued the companies in November. Schneiderman contends that daily fantasy sports are a form of gambling, which is illegal in New York. The firms say they offer games of skill, and are accepting New Yorkers’ business as while the…

US Fantasy Sports Updates Roll In

It’s been a busy week for fantasy sports in America, with several states starting to consider the legality of the activity. Some states are thinking about regulation, while others still believe the restrictive, prohibitive path is best for them. Here are some updates from around the nation: Florida moves to legalize fantasy sports The Florida Legislature put its stamp on a plan to legalize daily fantasy sports games Wednesday as two key committees approved a plan to impose regulations on the sport that mirrors the way the state regulates arcade games. But as lawmakers attempted to clarify one gaming issue,…

FanDuel CEO Warns: Expect More Laws and No IPO

After spending the last two months promising to make you rich, the chief executive of FanDuel admits his daily fantasy sports site may have gone a bit overboard.  “We definitely got creative burnout pretty darn quickly,” said Nigel Eccles in an wide-ranging interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday, in which he also touched on regulation, taking the company public, and the potential for a merger with competitor DraftKings. “People, when they saw the ad for the 87th time, they thought, I’m sick of this,” he said. The ad blitz was more than annoying. It was expensive — FanDuel has spent more than $100…