New York AG wants DFS sites to refund entry fees
The Attorney General of New York State had taken additional measures towards daily fantasy sports sites FanDuel and DraftKings. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is not only seeking to see the brands shut down in the state but filed an amendment to the complaints filed on Thursday to see, restitution as well as damages for what he is calling illegal gambling operations.
The latest filing by Schneiderman comes after a panel of appellate judges will be deciding to lift or extend the temporary stay that was granted last month after a preliminary injunction was filed by the Supreme Court. DraftKings and FanDuel will be filing briefs based on the stay while the amended complaint by Schneiderman seeks damages that will include pre-judgement interest which was caused by the deceptive and fraudulent acts that were repeatedly conducted by the two companies.
The AG is also seeking restitution for the customers of New York from DraftKings and FanDuel, with a civil penalty listed of as much as $5,000 for every violation of the general business law. The sites were able to earn around $200 million in entry fees in 2015 from close to 600,000 residents of the state. It is reported that the amendment filed by Schneiderman will not affect the appellate court decision on the temporary stay.
The daily fantasy sports companies now need to convince the appellate court that they are going to be successful in appealing the preliminary injunction and they would be facing irreparable harm in not being able to operate in the state while the case is taking place.
Both companies have faced adversity over the past few months, first after the New York AG deemed the activity illegal gambling, which spurred investigations by several states in the US. It was just a few weeks ago that Attorney General Lisa Madigan decided the activity is illegal gambling as well but is willing to work with the companies, having been in talks with both FanDuel and DraftKings after the ruling.
The Chair of the Libertarian National Committee, Nicholas Sarwark, commented on the decision by Schniederman, stating that he feels the Attorney General is not going after FanDuel and DraftKings to protect the residents of New York, but going after them to crush the competition for the lottery of the state. Sarwark stated it is supposed to be the job of attorneys general to break up the rackets that prey on poor people, not to protect them.
The Attorney General of New York State had taken additional measures towards daily fantasy sports sites FanDuel and DraftKings. Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is not only seeking to see the brands shut down in the state but filed an amendment to the complaints filed on Thursday to see, restitution as well as damages for what…