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Mobile sports betting is now legal in New York State
You can now legally bet on sports from your phone in New York, and a few companies are already taking wagers.
NFL adds DraftKings and Fanduel as official betting partners
On Thursday, the NFL announced a multi-year deal with Ceasars Entertainment, DraftKings and FanDuel that will see those three companies become official betting partners of the league.
FanDuel applies a $3 inactivity fee to your old daily fantasy account
Remember daily fantasy sports? Before increased scrutiny, threats of regulation and a failed merger between industry giants DraftKings and FanDuel, it went from niche element to nearly inescapable in 2015. A flurry of interest and investment spurred ads that stretched from ESPN to gas station pumps, and it was in that storm of activity that I created an account on each site just to test things out while writing about them. The mistakes of the past became my present this afternoon when I got a friendly email from FanDuel. It said that in accordance with recently updated Terms of Use, it planned to charge me $3 per month as a "monthly inactivity fee," starting 30 days from now. That's because my account has not received a deposit or entered a contest in at least 24 months.
Esports betting just got a whole lot easier. Now what?
On May 14th, the United States Supreme Court eliminated a 26-year-old law prohibiting states from sponsoring sports gambling. Today, states are free to establish their own sports-betting laws, and a few governors are acting fast. New Jersey, the state at the heart of the Supreme Court decision, should have sportsbooks live any day now, while Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware and Mississippi have already passed bills allowing gambling. A handful of other states have legislation in the pipeline, and meanwhile, the NFL, NBA, NHL and other national leagues are calling for some form of federal regulation in sports betting. "In the wake of the Supreme Court's decision, the volume of sports betting in the US is poised to explode -- and esports betting will inevitably follow suit," says Bryce Blum, attorney and founder of Electronic Sports and Gaming Law.
FanDuel's co-founder leaves to create an eSports company
FanDuel co-creator Nigel Eccles has been toying with startup ideas ever since his company proposed a merger with DraftKings, and he's taking action now that the merger has fallen apart. Eccles has stepped down from his CEO and chairman positions to helm an eSports startup. He won't say much about what it is (besides "something awesome," naturally), but this isn't an acrimonious split -- he's "a little bit sad" to be going. FanDuel's previous financial chief, Matt King, is returning to the company to fill Eccles' shoes.
The FTC plans to block the DraftKings and FanDuel merger
Last November, fantasy sports sites DraftKings and FanDuel announced they would be merging -- a deal that was expected to finalize later this year. However, according to an Federal Trade Commission press release, the FTC will try to block the merger.
DraftKings and FanDuel make their merger official
It was speculated back in June and reports last month indicated that a deal was close. Today, daily fantasy sports sites DraftKings and FanDuel made their merger official. The two sides announced a "strategic merger" that's expected to close in the second half of 2017, but financial details weren't disclosed.
DraftKings and FanDuel may be serious about a merger
DraftKings and FanDuel have dismissed talk of a possible merger for ages, but it looks like those rumors may be more than just idle banter. Sources for both ESPN and Recode say that the daily fantasy sports websites are in serious talks about a union. Just how close they are is up for debate (ESPN says it's "imminent," Recode says the terms are "still being ironed out"), but this wouldn't just be an exploratory discussion.
DraftKings and FanDuel settle with New York for $12 million
Just because New York state has legalized daily fantasy sports doesn't mean that DraftKings and FanDuel are off the hook just yet. The two sites have settled with New York's Attorney General over charges of misleading customers about their chances of winning. Each company will pay $6 million, and they'll have to institute "sweeping reforms" to their marketing. They'll have to explicitly disclose the expected odds and winnings in contests, as well as the terms for any promotions. Both will also have to offer resources for players who might succumb to addiction, and host a page detailing the success rates for users -- particularly for top players who might use scripts and advanced theories to get an edge.
New York governor legalizes daily fantasy sports
Daily fantasy sports leagues have seen serious ups and downs in the last few months as regulatory agencies grapple with whether risking money on their services constitutes gambling. New York state banned the popular sites DraftKings and FanDuel at least until a September appeal, but it seems they got an early reprieve. In June, legislators proposed to allow daily fantasy so long as they obeyed regulations and pay fees, which governor Cuomo just signed into law. As of today, it's legal in NY.
New York votes to legalize daily fantasy sports games
If you've wished that the daily fantasy offerings from DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo would come back to New York following their shutdown in March, you might just get your wish. State legislators have voted in favor of a bill that would greenlight and regulate daily fantasy games. If Governor Cuomo signs the measure into law, it would both tax companies with an entry fee (15 percent of gross revenue per year plus up to $50,000 more) and set some important baselines for conduct.
DraftKings and FanDuel are reportedly talking about a merger (updated)
Many would say that DraftKings and FanDuel are two sides of the same daily fantasy sports coin, and for good reason: in addition to similar businesses, they've sometimes been uncomfortably close to each other. And now, it looks like they might just cement that bond once and for all. Sources for both Bloomberg and Reuters say that the two companies are in merger talks. They reportedly haven't agreed on anything and might not unite, but the insiders claim that the two have been discussing the deal for a long time. Neither DraftKings nor FanDuel has commented so far.
DraftKings and FanDuel pull the plug on college fantasy contests
While debates about the legality of fantasy sports services DraftKings and FanDuel rage on, both companies have announced that they'll suspend all paid contests on collegiate sports as of this week. Sorry, armchair coaches: looks like your March Madness championship paydays aren't coming after all. While the news might be a bummer for people already gearing up for the Division I college football in a few months, CNBC also reports that the two companies will also stop offering contests involving "high school and youth sports."
Yahoo stops daily fantasy sports contests in New York
Yahoo is following the lead of DraftKings and FanDuel and stopping its paid daily fantasy sports operations in New York. Reuters reports that this shutdown won't affect other states, however.
DraftKings and FanDuel stop operating in New York, for now
We hope you aren't an ardent DraftKings or FanDuel fan in New York -- that reprieve they got isn't going to last. The state's Attorney General has reached agreements with both daily fantasy sports sites that will have them shut down paid contests in New York from March 21st until at least September, when they get to appeal a ruling that put them on the wrong side of the law. You can still use them as a New Yorker if you're out of state, but you're otherwise out of luck.
DraftKings and FanDuel are legal in Virginia
Virginia's General Assembly recently sent the Fantasy Sports Act to governor Terry McAuliffe, and now that he's signed, it is the first state with daily fantasy law on the books. Highlights of the bill include a $50,000 registration fee for companies like DraftKings and FanDuel and age restrictions on players (you must be 18, much like gambling). Oh, and in a nod to the mess that put the industry in the spotlight: employees and their relatives can't play in any contests. What's more, site operators need to keep player and operational funds separate in addition to keeping data secure.
Virginia sends nation's first daily fantasy bill to the governor
As DraftKings and FanDuel make their case for daily fantasy sports in each state in the US, the Virginia legislature approved a framework to regulate the games. The Fantasy Contests Act (SB 646) passed both the Senate and the House in the state, making the Commonwealth's General Assembly the first to approve guidelines for the sports gaming craze that has taken the US (and UK) by storm. Of course, the bill still has to be signed by Governor Terry McAuliffe.
DraftKings loses its exclusive ESPN ad deal
Things keep getting worse for DraftKings, the embattled daily fantasy sports site. Not only is it currently under investigation (or already banned) by a number of state attorney generals for violating online gambling statutes and losing payment processing partners, Yahoo Finance reported on Tuesday that it's losing a deal to be the exclusive daily fantasy advertiser on ESPN.
NYT: DraftKings and FanDuel lose major payment processor
The daily fantasy sports industry has a new problem, and The New York Times believes it's "the biggest blow yet" despite all its other legal challenges. One of its main payment processors, Vantiv Entertainment Solutions, has notified its clients that it'll stop processing all daily fantasy sports transactions in the US on February 29th. Payment processors handle all the players' deposits and withdrawals, and Vantiv, in particular, plays a major part in that for FanDuel and DraftKings. The company's services are a crucial part of those websites' operation -- they will not be able to continue running unless they find a replacement.
Hawaii AG declares that daily fantasy is indeed gambling
Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin issued an official opinion on Thursday arguing that daily fantasy sports, like DraftKings and Fanduel, constitute gambling under Hawaiian law. "Gambling generally occurs under Hawaii law when a person stakes or risks something of value upon a game of chance or upon any future contingent event not under the person's control," Chin wrote, "The technology may have changed, but the vice has not."